Desired Destiny
by chocolatiew
Summary: Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle have been living happily for three years. Everything is perfect, but some things start to change. Magics will start singing, secrets will start revealing, and lives will start turning upside down the moment Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles comes to the picture. (after Frozen and during Frozen II with a Jelsa twist)
1. Chapter 0

**_What?_**

* * *

**"Mama, what is love?"** The firstborn princess of the Arendelle kingdom tugs her mother's violet dress while sipping her chocolate milk. Princess Elsa has always been curious. It's in Queen Iduna's daily itinerary to answer tons of Elsa's questions. Being an intelligent 3-year-old, Elsa asks about _every single thing_ her senses can find.

Queen Iduna smiles down at her child while fixing her knitted scarf. "Why did you ask, snow angel?"

"You and papa say 'I love you_' _a lot."

The queen giggles as she guides Elsa to the sofa nearby. She gently picks her daughter from the ground and places the little girl on her lap. Elsa shifts herself as she glances at the heavy rain outside. She stares at the tiny drops of water that are painting the windows. "Well..._Love_ is _everything_."

Elsa puffs her cheeks and stirs her eyes from the pouring rain to her mother. " '_Everything__?_' I don't get it."

The queen laughs and lovingly brushes Elsa's fishtail braid. "_Love_ is _everywhere_ around you. It's a part of nature that is quite difficult to describe."

"I guess you're right, Mama. Erlingur hasn't taught me about love yet. It might be because I wasn't old enough for something so difficult." Elsa murmurs and slurps the last drops of her milk. "But, Mama...What makes love so difficult to study?" The queen only smiles at her daughter and continues to caress her hair.

"I don't think you need to study love, because love is something that we—humans—understand by _nature_." The queen takes the glass from Elsa and places it on the desk. She grabs a tissue from the table and wipes clean Elsa's milk mustache. "For me, love is only something that you can only _feel_—we _all_ feel. You can't see or smell if love is coming, but there will be this..._strange_ _feeling_ when it does."

"I'm sorry, Mama. I still don't get it." Elsa frowns and plays with her mother's diamond cufflinks on the upper part of her chest.

"It's okay, Elsa." The queen escapes a little laugh once again. "Everyone will feel different things when love comes to them, so it's really hard to explain."

"What about—"

A piercing sound of a thunder echoes through the castle's silent halls along with a faint cry from upstairs. Princess Anna was just born a few months ago with eyes as bright as her spirit. She has the loudest cries and the most beautiful laughs.

"Anna's awake!" Elsa cheers and hops down from the queen's lap.

The queen lets her daughter carry her up to the nursery, a room between the East and West Wings which the two little princesses share after Anna was born. They rush to the crib and see the poor strawberry blonde who's crying for help. The queen brings the tiny baby to her hold and sits on an empty couch, whispering sweet little nothings to her small wars.

Elsa frowns at her scared little sister as she climbs up the couch and scoots closer to her mother, staring down at the bundle of cuteness curled up in a sunflower-patterned quilt. "Don't cry, Anna...It's just thunder! It may sound scary, but it's only a part of nature!" Elsa tries to help by showing off her beautiful gift, establishing dancing snowflakes with her pale fingers. "Here! Snowflakes are a part of nature, too!" Baby Anna slowly drifts her eyes to her older sibling. "_See? _They are not so bad, right?" Anna soon eases her own cries and sneezes at the impact of Elsa's powers.

"Mama?" The queen's gaze lands on Elsa who's throwing her another philosophical statement. "I just remember that you said 'Love is a force of nature.' So love is like..._thunder_ and _snowflakes?_"

Queen Iduna giggles and gently shakes her head. "Well, you can _see_ and _hear_ thunder and snowflakes, right? _Love_ is something you can only _feel_."

"Okay..." Elsa frowns once again as she rests on her mother's shoulder, twirling her finger around the edge of Queen Iduna's scarf. "If love, thunder, and snowflakes are all part of nature. Then there must be _something _that's connecting them, right?"

The queen weakly smiles, noticing how her highly intelligent daughter won't give up until she finds an answer which will satisfy her.

So, a final answer she gives.

"Only Ahtohallan knows."

The princess sits upright, eyes gleaming in wonder. "_Ahto...hallan?_" She smiles as she slowly pronounces the word.

Queen Iduna giggles once again and nods. "My mother used to sing me a song about a _special_ _river_ called _Ahtohallan_."

"_Woah_..." Little Elsa vigorously nods. She understands now. Her mind goes to one of her sessions with Erlingur as she recalls the things he shared with her.

_Everything about magic is almost impossible to study._

_All you need to do is believe. Believe in that magic._

Elsa's eyes light up as her tiny fingers slowly work their way to her mother's scarf. "Can you sing it now? _Please?_"

Queen Iduna sighs and smiles. "Okay..." She shifts her position and leans closer to her daughter. "Cuddle close, scooch in..." Elsa happily obeys as she watches her mother's closed eyes. She purses her lips and focuses on her mother's voice, letting the lullaby take her to another world.

_Where the north wind meets the sea  
__There's a river full of memory  
__Sleep, my darling, safe and sound  
__For in this river all is found_

Elsa smiles as she rests her head on her mother's shoulder, looking up to her mother in so much admiration.

_In her waters, deep and true  
__Lay the answers and a path for you_

Queen Iduna slowly opens her eyes and stares deeply into her daughter's eyes.

_Dive down deep into her sound  
__But not too far or you'll be drowned_

The queen lowers her head as she rubs her nose against Elsa's, causing the princess to laugh and clutch the scarf tighter.

_Yes, she will sing to those who'll hear  
__And in her song, all magic flows  
__But can you brave what you most fear?  
__Can you face what the river knows?_

Queen Iduna inches herself away as she slowly removes one arm from Anna to touch Elsa's cheek, still locking her gaze on her firstborn.

_Where the north wind meets the sea  
__There's a mother full of memory  
__Come, my darling, homeward bound  
__When all is lost, then all is found_

The lullaby ends as the two are left in surprise as soon as they hear Anna's faint giggle.

"Hey! Do you like the song, Anna?" Elsa moves closer to her sister and touches the baby's tiny hand. Anna slowly circles her fingers around Elsa's pointer finger. "I think she likes the song, Mama!"

Queen Iduna sighs contentedly and looks back and forth between her two daughters. She curves a knowing smile and fixes her gaze on Elsa. "What do you feel, Elsa?"

Elsa tilts her head and stares at her mother. "Feel about what, Mama?"

"About all of _this_." Queen Iduna grins and looks back at Anna whose eyes open wide, watching the snowflakes that are swirling in front of her face. "Don't think of anything, angel." She slowly slides her hand from her cheek to Elsa's chest, right above where her heart is. "Just tell me what you feel in _here_."

Elsa purses her lips. The firstborn princess looks at her mother, glances at her sister, feels her mother's touch on her cheek, and listens to the rhythm inside her heart. She smiles and looks up, finding her mother with that enchanting smile of hers.

"I feel _love_."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Hello, people! Oh God—thank you so much for deciding to check out this book and read the introductory part of the story! My name is Reynia and I only write as a hobby. I'm not a professional writer, not even someone who understands the English language properly, but I hope you will enjoy this book nonetheless!**

**Before you go to the next chapter, I have a few things to say that you peeps might need to know...**

• **This story starts **_**after**_** Frozen (along with Frozen Fever, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, and LEGO Frozen: Northern Lights), but **_**during**_** the events of Frozen II. However, not everything will turn out **_**exactly**_** like Frozen II (because I will also mix this story with Frozen's official middle-grade novels which are Kamilla Benko's '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**'; Jen Calonita's '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**'; and Elizabeth Rudnick's '**_**A Frozen Heart**_**') which means some things might **_**confuse**_** you. In order to fully understand what's happening in the story, you really need to pay attention to the details and read **_**AHTOHALLAN**_** in every **_**Author's Note**_**—why I name it after Ahtohallan? Because the points written under there will answer to all of your questions about this story! *coughs* not the questions about your past *coughs* I also hope I can fill some plot holes that are left in the movie with my own crazy ideas!**

• **This is my own Frozen 2 story, so everything will revolve around the **_**Frozen**_** world. The things from Rise of the Guardians—or the Guardians of Childhood world—will also be here, but are presented in a different way, just like how Jack and his fellow guardian friends are not guardians nor spirits here. Although, their personalities will hopefully remain the same, I'll try my best to stay true to their characters! Back to the Frozen world, there are going to be a lot of new characters here because Elsa, Anna, and the others are going to have lots of interactions with the citizens of Arendelle. Most of the characters belong to Disney and Dreamworks, but I will also create my original characters to make this story work. I will tell you about my OCs on **_**AHTOHALLAN**_**, so make sure you read it on **_**every**__**chapter! **_**Just like this one:**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- In this story, Queen Iduna sings the lullaby when Elsa was 3 years old and Anna was still a baby  
****\- I'm highlighting Elsa's interest in her surroundings and her philosophical side, explaining how Olaf inherits that habit!  
****\- According to the official Frozen novel '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**', Erlingur was Elsa's tutor when she was young  
****\- The nursery is based on '**_**A Frozen Heart**_**'**

• **LASTLY, before you begin the journey of reading this one hell of a story, I wanna highlight some infos about me, the **_**zero-experience-in-writing writer**_**.**

**1\. _English is NOT my mother tongue_****, so this story is going to have LOTS, LOTS, LOTS, LOTS OF MISTAKES. Pretty please correct me if I ever type anything stupid like grammatically incorrect sentences, misspellings, etc. I need you all to be my English police.**

**2.**_** I lack of knowledge with all this kingdom thingy**_**, so I don't really know anything to write down a fictional kingdom fantasy. Like... I don't really know the members of a kingdom's council, or whether a duke and a count are the same or not—so...yeah...bear with my stupidity, ladies and gents! And I really don't wanna bother researching about all those because this story is going to follow Frozen 2's story line anyways. We're gonna focus on the Enchanted Forest and Ahtohallan and all the other mysteriously cool stuffs!**

**3.**_** This story is going to have curse words and some fluffy stuffs,**_** I don't really know the borders of these things, but—as an Eastern girl—I recommend a PG!**

• **If you notice something fishy or if I happen to type something that's completely weird and out of the context just tell me! ESPECIALLY IF YOU THINK I LEAVE A **_**PLOT HOLE**_** SOMEWHERE. PLEASE. DO TELL. I want everything to stay clear and I want every single one of you to understand **_**what is happening**_**. Don't ever hesitate to review or give me support criticisms because I need them to be better! My messages are always open and I **_**love**_** talking to people!**

**Okay, I don't wanna keep ya folks here any longer, so see ya and enjoy the ride!  
**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Frustration**_

* * *

**"Elsa!"** Anna sings loudly from the kitchen with a silver tray of chocolate chip cookies on her hands. Half of her hair is tied in a sleek braid; the other half hangs loosely on her back. As soon as she sees how her sister jolts up from the table, her happy face diminishes into a frown.

That happens _all the time._ Her sister has the habit to overwork herself and fall asleep while doing her queenly paperwork. There's so much to do now that the eternal winter is gone and the rightful queen is _finally _ready to go on. Elsa's humble and supportive advisor—which also happens to be her godfather, Kai, has been helping her nonstop with the letters, but there are just _way_ too many of them. "You fell asleep _again_..." Anna bites her lip and places the tray on the drawer right beside the door. She walks deeper into the study and comfortingly rubs Elsa's shoulders. "You _really_ should rest."

"Not until I finish." Elsa weakly smiles and wipes the sleepiness away from her eyes, even though it's a useless effort.

"Right," Anna puts her hand on her hip while scanning the piles of papers situated neatly on Elsa's desk. "But when will you finish?" Elsa shuts her lips and silently grabs her quill. "_Exactly_," Anna growls. "I want you to rest _this instant_. The bags under your eyes are getting heavier!"

Elsa hums accordingly and submerges the nib inside the inkwell. "A few more letters."

"You keep saying that until midnight. _Every_ _single day._"

Elsa looks up to her frowning little sister. "It's okay, Anna. I'm used to this." She weakly smiles before turning back to her duty. Anna crosses her arms and examines Elsa's exhausted face. Her porcelain skin is paler. Her eyes lose some of their sparks. Her smile isn't like the smile she gave her when she thawed the snow, celebrated Anna's big day, built Olaf's snow family, gave Kristoff new ice harvesting tools, sprinkled tiny snowflakes for Sven to lick, or any happy memories they had shared. This smile is one of her miserable ways of concealing her emotions.

Elsa has been facing tons of letters for her to reply to and sign. Arendelle has currently been in its most exceptional success for three years under Queen Elsa's reign. It all started with the small attempt of the queen herself to test her abilities. Elsa tried to put her powers to use by simply creating ice sculptures for business. With her impressive and detailed works, dozens of Elsa's icy creations had been shipped to many parts of the world. Arendelle managed to boost up its economy. The enormous amount of money was used wisely—to raise more crops, provide inn facilities, build various kinds of stores by expanding the Arendelle Plaza, and so much more—as it brought the crocus kingdom to another level of success.

Now, Arendelle is _thriving_. That achievement attracts the eye of the world. Many clans and countries have been trying to build a partnership with Arendelle; some even strive to take the queen's hand in _marriage_. Elsa has been having a hard time managing all those proposals, _especially _those letters with marriage purposes. It doesn't matter how tired she is; the letters just won't stop from coming.

Anna has been standing for quite some time with her eyes watching Elsa work on her tasks delicately—even at her worst state. The strawberry blonde sighs in annoyance and decides to give up, realizing her sister is as stubborn as she is. "At least eat my cookies, okay?" Anna rushes to the tray and places it on the table next to Elsa's study one.

Elsa flashes her a smile and nods. "Thanks, sis."

* * *

"It's _horrible_, Gerda!" Anna whines and hugs her pillows, squeezing it with her dear life. "She looks so lifeless with the amount of work she's having!"

"But it's Her Majesty's duty, Princess Anna." Gerda, one of the oldest maids who has served the royal family for a long time and the sisters' closest figure to a mother, softly caresses Anna's head. The princess previously asked for Gerda's _emotional service_ after she visited Elsa's study a few minutes ago. According to Elsa's daily itinerary, she was supposed to finish her paperwork before the clock strikes nine. But, _now_, that seems impossible. Tons of dignitaries and trade partners can't seem to keep themselves away from Arendelle. "Her Majesty is one of the best rulers of Arendelle in history. I'm sure she can manage."

"I have no doubt about that." Anna sinks her head deeper into the fluffy object. "I just want her to be happy."

"Her Majesty told me she'd be happy when you are, Princess."

"But I'm certainly _not_ going to be happy if she _isn't!_" Anna frowns and curls up even more. Gerda stays in silence because she doesn't know what to say anymore. The silence is broken the moment Kai steps inside Anna's room.

"Good evening, Your Highness," Kai, not acknowledging Anna's pitiful state, politely greets the two ladies from the door. Not receiving any slight response from Anna's covered face, Kai looks at Gerda and raises an eyebrow at her. Gerda weakly smiles and gestures Elsa's study. Kai bites the insides of his cheeks—fully knowing Anna's daily stress _over_ Elsa's daily stress—and coughs before his purpose of barging in is out. "I am here to inform that the council meeting will be held first thing in the morning."

"_Great_. Tomorrow I can't have a _peaceful _breakfast with my dear sister, _again_." Anna groans loudly and glares at Kai who's now swallowing his breath. "What does the council want this time, Kai?"

"They need to arrange a few things related to the future King of Arendelle, Your Highness." Kai gulps and glances at Gerda who's looking at him wide-eyed.

"Future..._King?_" Anna repeats in almost a whisper as the realization hits her like Kristoff's polished sleigh. "THEY ARE ARRANGING A _MARRIAGE_ FOR MY SISTER?"

* * *

"Kai, can you _at least_ talk to them?" The trio went further away from Elsa's study to clear things up. They proceeded their way to the dining room as Anna ordered the two to sit down in front of her. Although, Gerda excused herself to the kitchen to grab something, leaving the poor Kai alone with Anna's bursting emotions.

"I—I'm afraid there is nothing we can do, Your Highness."

"You've seen Elsa's condition! _Please,_ don't weigh her shoulders with more of these!"

"The council knows what's best for the kingdom, Your Highness. I believe they're aware of Queen Elsa's state."

"They_ don't!_ _I_ know how Elsa _feels_—I _know_ how she'll react once she finds out about this!" Gerda returns with a hot chocolate—in hopes to calm the raging princess down—with Olaf smiling giddily behind her. His positivism is needed in case the situation goes worse. "We've been through three years just fine. What makes the council come up with the idea anyway?" Anna snorts and lands her forehead on the table.

"It's not my place to question the council's decision, Your Highness," Kai continues to shrink on his seat the longer the conversation goes. Gerda places the royal mug on the dining table as Olaf places himself beside Anna.

Gerda smiles and presents the hot chocolate. "Your Highness—"

"Gerda, _shush!_ She's sleeping!" Olaf puts his twig hand in front of his mouth and places the other on Anna's shoulder. "It's normal for people to fall asleep on the dining table. It is almost our bedtime, after all."

Anna sighs before tilting her head up, resting her chin on the table instead. "What am I gonna do?"

"_Oh! _She's not sleeping." Olaf exclaims and looks at Gerda. "You can give her the hot choco!"

Gerda awkwardly smiles at Olaf while sliding the mug closer to Anna's spot. The princess perks up a little at the scent of cocoa. "I put some marshmallows in there in case you miss him! You know..._figure of speech_," Olaf grins while watching Anna take a sip of the hot chocolate. "It seems that you are in a better condition, Anna, and I guess you won't explode or break anything in the castle—as Gerda previously informed me." Olaf hops down from the chair. "Now, if you all excuse me, I need to finish my reading so that I won't be late for a bedtime story with Sven!" And with that, the snowman and his flurry march their way out.

Anna giggles for the first time and shouts Olaf a 'thank you_'_ before he is entirely out of sight. She continues drinking, leaving Kai and Gerda silently watching her in relief. She starts to relax after taking a couple of sips.

_Chocolate shall be on top of the grocery list._

Anna takes the final gulp and wipes clean the chocolate mustache between her nose and her upper lip. She gently places the mug on the table then looks back and forth between Kai and Gerda with a tight smile. "I wish to speak with the council _before _the meeting."

Kai and Gerda blink for a few seconds and stare at each other.

_They will need more hot chocolates._

* * *

Elsa slumps into her large royal mattress and gives out a long, tiring sigh. Her eyes stare emptily at the ceiling; her mind wanders off to her work—as always.

She completed her work for the day, but, _of course_, more papers would be presented on her desk tomorrow by dusk. Nevertheless, she's thrilled to see more smiles coming out from her citizens and more visitors willing to sail their ships to stop by. Even though she's pretty much exhausted working on all of these kinds of stuff on her own, the positive responses from the people are more than enough to outweigh the stress.

Suddenly, she wonders how her father managed to do his duties as king on his own. She pulls herself to sit as she rummages through the drawers next to her desk. Her hand slips through several scrolls and documents until it finally reaches something she has been aiming to find.

_Papa's sketchbook._

It's a leather sketchbook with a hand-painted white and gold rosemaling of a crocus, Arendelle's official flower. Elsa feels herself smiling as she returns to her seat and flips the pages of her father's beautiful drawings. King Agnarr wielded his pencil as easily as he swung his blade. Whenever he had free time, he would scribble things on his sketchbook. What makes Elsa's heart swells is the fact that her father filled the book with drawings of her, her sister, and her mother. Behind his stern exterior as a king, King Agnarr was a loving father who would try his best to spend time with his family as much as he can. The sketchbook feels more like a journal. She can see flashes of her sweet childhood as she traces her father's beautiful art.

Elsa soon finds a drawing of her and Anna while puffing her cheeks. She remembers how her father made this right when she and her sister were grounded after they were messing with their caretakers. Elsa laughs in memory of her and Anna being two little rebellious troublemakers. Little Elsa would freeze their tutor's tea, and baby Anna would poke their nanny's big behind. Their father would come to take care of the mess they made when their mother was doing the paperwork, and—in return—their mother would come to their aid when their father was attending the meetings.

Then something occurs to Elsa's mind.

They _shared_ their duties and _supported _each other.

And above all, there was _love_.

Elsa closes the book and lets out a deep sigh. _Yes_, she has been receiving letters from plenty of lords boasting about their sons and kings, but plenty she has found wanting. Her answer _will_ always be the _same_.

Elsa will _never _be ready for _love_.

A relationship is and will be the _last _thing in her mind. She has poured all her love to her sister, her family, her friends, and her kingdom. She has no part left in her heart for anyone else.

And, _besides_, no one would love the Snow Queen anyway.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Yay, the first part is published! I hope you enjoy it! I had fun writing about these lovely sisters~ BTW, I suck at English so pretty please help me if you notice some grammar mistakes or possibly anything wrong, I **_**really**_** need that, thanks. **

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Kai was the castle's royal handler and keeps things in order inside the palace (he was the one who announced Elsa as queen during the coronation and moved Anna to stand besides Elsa). However, in this story, he is somehow **_**promoted **_**and becomes the queen's royal advisor  
****\- Arendelle Plaza is the name of the kingdom's market square according to the game app '**_**Frozen Free Fall'  
**_**\- Gerda is a loyal maid in the castle (during the first seconds of '**_**For the First Time in Forever'**_**, Anna spun her around while shouting "It's coronation day!")  
****\- Kai and Gerda are also Elsa and Anna's godparents here, I want the sisters to still have parental figures  
****\- Elsa's itinerary is based on the book '**_**Unlocking Arendelle'  
**_**\- According to one of the Frozen deleted songs **_**'We Know Better'**_**, Elsa and Anna loved to tease their nanny  
****\- King Agnarr loves to sketch and has his own sketchbook based on '**_**Forest of Shadows'**_

**Thanks for reading this far! And thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I am super new in this platform, so pretty please forgive me if I do anything stupid! New chapter will be out soon!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Deficient Decree**_

* * *

**Anna plays with her toes** while impatiently waiting inside the council chamber. The room is located in the West Wing and used for the council meetings with chairs circling a long wooden table with a majestic tablecloth and a large crest of Arendelle in the center. Anna grows even more restless as her hand continues to grab another cookie from the jar and shoves it inside her mouth.

"Are you sure this is going to work, feisty pants?" Kristoff yawns as he leans on the door, eyes observing the hallway.

"It _has_ to work." Anna instantly replies while anger is fueling inside her head. Anna had loaded her boyfriend with her feelings last night at the stable and had hoped that Kristoff would support her idea of preventing this horrible scam of _arranged marriage_. Speaking of stables, Kristoff prefers to stay with Sven until he is _official _with Anna someday in the future—although at some point he sleeps with Anna and sings her to sleep. _Unfortunately_, Kristoff had spent his time telling her to let Elsa handle her own life. Sure, he is also worried about Elsa, but he is more concerned about Anna. The princess does have a habit of thinking about everyone's well-being but often forgets about her own.

"And if it doesn't?" Kristoff asks her once again.

"It _will_. I'll make sure of it."

"Doesn't sound like you're _that_ sure."

"_Christopher_, I thought you were on my side!" Kristoff gulps. She only addresses him with that nickname when she's _very pissed_. When Princess Anna of Arendelle is _very pissed_, this castle will no longer stand.

"I'm _only _thinking rationally," Kristoff softly replies, not wanting to see Anna burst into lava, especially when it's still early in the morning. "This is the _council_ we're talking about—they know _things_. They know Arendelle's laws and stuff the most."

"You're only thinking _negatively_. I'm talking about Elsa's condition here. She has been through so much—and, now, she's forced to marry_ someone_ she just _met!_"

"Look who's talking." Kristoff flashes her a cocky smirk as Anna smacks his muscled arm.

"I was young and naïve." She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. Kristoff laughs at her and notices Olaf running closer.

"Good morning, Kristoff and Anna!" Olaf cheers and walks inside the room. "I saw the council climbing up the staircase. Are they joining us for breakfast?"

"_Uh_, I'll explain it to you at the stable. Come on, Olaf." Kristoff guides Olaf outside as the footsteps of the council and Kai's welcoming greetings getting closer. Kristoff prepares to walk away but stops and takes a small peek at the door. "Don't do something stupid, alright?" He warns and gives her a knowing look.

Anna looks back at him and grins. "No promises!"

"I am assertive we have come to a _great _denouement." Count Eirik of Arendelle rests his chin atop his palms, sending a firm stare to the princess who's giving a piece of her mind to the council.

"As both the Princess of Arendelle and the sister to Queen Elsa, I am _not_. Arendelle's economy is at its golden state. The citizens are happy with the changes. I don't see any reason why my sister needs to be dragged into an arranged marriage, _especially _when Arendelle is _fine _with its own." Anna retorts with anger lacing her face. Gerda notices the increased heat as she hurriedly serves the council with teas and Anna with a hot chocolate, with _tons _of marshmallows this time.

"Well, now I can see the reason why you're against this matter, Your Highness." The count chuckles slightly. "This kind of marriage is not _always_ about forming political alliances."

"It mostly appears to be. Even if it doesn't at first, it'll always turn out that way at the end." Anna doesn't flinch for a bit. Her persistent mind sends the rest of the council members silence, leaving only the Count of Arendelle to reason with the princess.

"It is, and it _could _be, but _not _with this case." The count takes a sip of his tea and shifts his gaze to the window, watching the busy Arendelle Plaza in adoration. "Arendelle has always been ruled by a king _and_ a queen. The citizens have always faced a reigning husband and wife as their leader. Psychologically, the fact also helps the citizens—_especially_, the younglings—to understand the importance of _both _a_ man_ and a _woman_ in a _family_."

"Kids have the widest sights," Anna utters and stops drinking her chocolate. "I'm sure they understand the queen is doing excellent on her own—seeing their parents arrive early from their work and watching various stores open in the plaza."

"Kids do have the widest sights, but _also_ the most oblivious minds. We are not focusing on that part. They will see a queen leading the monarchy on her own—"

"Which will _empower _all the girls out there—"

"And will _also_ _erase_ the stigma of men having a _role_ in a _family_." The count slowly raises his voice. Anna squints her eyes at the sudden austerity inside the count's voice. "The kids will walk to their mothers and eventually question their fathers' roles. A queen ruling on her own is enough to socially drive the younglings to _rethink _the essence of their _fathers_. Mothers are the ones who bear them and perform most activities at home—adding a queen to take care of all responsibilities will run down men's roles in society. It is a possibility that our male citizens out there will start querying whether they are _important _or _not, _witnessing how the women are doing excellent on their own."

Anna bites the insides of her cheek and looks down at her curling toes underneath her thin lime green socks. She suddenly remembers the little picnic she once had with her family under the autumn trees. They were surrounded by pumpkins. The clouds were moving with every autumn breeze. Elsa and her mother were setting up the cookies when her little-self was eager to watch the first day of fall. She then took her father's arm and brought him to the tree which already had most of its leaves in warm colors. They sat and chatted for quite some time with their hands continually playing around with the fallen fiery leaves. Seconds after, Anna spotted four leaves with matching colors. She quickly ran to grab them and showed them to her father, introducing him to the leaves as their happy, royal family. The King of Arendelle played along with his daughter and claimed the other scattered leaves as their citizens. Soon their silly game turned into an _implicit _kingdom talk. The king would use words Anna hadn't learned yet and laughed at the baffled faces she made.

However, she _does _remember his words.

_The citizens of Arendelle are often too reiterated._

Anna sees it now. The royal family is not only an excellent example to the people but also the citizens' influence in possibly _everything_ they _do_.

_Reiterated._

They saw a man and a woman leading the family and taking care of their kids; they followed it that way. Now, they see Elsa on her own. The fact will surely drive some rational-thinking problems in the citizens' family tree. Anna bites her tongue and hates how authentic everything turns out.

_In Arendelle, the tradition is to keep, and the law is to heed._

"The law..." Anna whispers and looks back at the count. "Is this all about society, or is there actually a _law_ about this?"

Count Eirik clears his throat before nodding. "It _is_ a _concrete law _in Arendelle, Your Highness, along with the circumferences between the king's and the queen's parts in running the kingdom—though it is not recorded."

Anna contacts her eyebrows and hardens her gaze on the count. "If my sister knew about the law, she would—" Anna pauses and notices the equivocal note. "_None_ of _you_ _informed_ my sister beforehand?" The princess spats in betrayal. "Don't you think it's _all _of _your_ jobs to help Elsa as a queen by providing her with the _complete _education of the kingdom, _including _the laws of Arendelle?" With her voice reaching its peak, the council steals glances from each other and hangs their heads low.

"As I said before, Princess Anna," Count Eirik softly utters and leans his head forward. "We have always faced a _king_ and a _queen_ leading the monarchy. We expected Queen Elsa to make actions of her own, but—so far—we didn't see any effort coming from Her Majesty. We saw Her Majesty rejecting the lords and princes from other kingdoms in marriage proposals. We discussed this matter for a whole week and finally decided to hold a proper meeting with Queen Elsa to talk about this issue." The count turns his attention to Kai, signaling his turn to speak.

Kai nervously nods and places a few sheets of paper on the table. A sheepish smile forms on his lips. "If I may say, Your Highness, this may be the best solution to help Her Majesty with her royal duties as well." Kai slides the papers to Anna with a hopeful heart that she will agree.

Anna stares at the papers. All words written on the pages are cursively impressive, though there is a brief curiosity which tickles Anna's mind. _A snowflake crest? _A sudden interest in the mysterious kingdom grows inside of her, but then she remembers her sister. Anna silently pouts and looks back at the council. _She will never agree to this!_

"For the _last_ time, I do _not_ approve this ma—"

"You have _my_ consent." All eyes spin abruptly to the left-open door. Queen Elsa is standing there, graceful as always, with black spots under her crystal blue eyes and a forced smile Anna could easily see-through.

"_What?_" Anna retorts and walks over to Elsa. "Elsa! What are you—"

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I speak with my sister alone?" Elsa gently smiles at the council and approaches the group. The council politely excuses themselves, leaving the two sisters dealing with each other's concerns. Elsa sits beside Anna, replacing Judge Terese's previous spot.

"I know you don't want this, Elsa," Anna sighs and slowly takes Elsa's hand in hers, holding it with so much sensitivity.

"Of course, you know." Elsa giggles. "There's no way I'm swallowing my own words."

" 'You can't marry a man you just _met_.' " Both utter in unison and breathe out a peal of soft laughter.

"I've heard everything from the beginning," Elsa begins and stares outside the window, the same sight the count was admiring earlier. "I appreciate your words back there. Thank you for defying my voice. But...as much as I wanted to cut in and say no, there was no way I could revoke everything the council had said. I found their intentions and his words are true. The conditions of my people are _legitimate_. They care about _my reign_ just as much as you care about _my feelings. _As a queen, it is a _must _to put the kingdom atop the priorities."

"By _ignoring_ your own feelings?" Anna whispers, observing Elsa's conflicted smile. "Trashing away the fact that you're not _happy_ with all this?"

"You know I'm happy when _you_ are happy, right?" Elsa shifts closer and rubs Anna's arm. Anna rolls her eyes and slowly nods. "So, _please_, be happy for me." Elsa pats Anna's head and pulls her for a warm hug. Anna weakly smiles and snuggles with her sister.

"I'll try." Anna lets out a small sniff while silently praying for the best.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

***gasps* Things are falling into place and we're getting close to Jelsa! Grab a few chocolates y'all! BTW, um...I know up there is a pretty sensitive topic and such a homophobic issue...I didn't mean to offend anyone, so sorry and PEACE!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_ **Eirik, Terese, and the rest of the council members who will make their appearances later are all my original characters**

**Ooooh, peeps! I'm super happy to have 11 views and 14 faves/follows so far! That is huge achievement for me! Thank you so much for sparing your time reading this book, I'm so honored to have all of you here~ Oh! I also want to say a few things**  
**\- This story is written in present tense. W****hy? Because literally everything I wrote here was based on **_**spontaneity **_**and I _didn't draft_ this story for a 'proper plot planning'. Everything in here _goes_ _wherever_ _the wind inside my head flows_. And also, this is a _movie-based_ story...screenplays are written in present tense and I just want to build that feeling (even though if I happen to poorly execute it, sorry y'all). Of course, _past tense_ will _also_ be present here. There will be _tons _of _flashbacks_**—**because this book is all about solving mysteries with nobody, not even the author herself, knowing what's going on**—**and I want to _clear things out_ by differing it with the mixture of past tense and present tense use. And about the previous chapter, I forgot to put horizontal lines to mark the situational shifts and made the verb tenses messed up, sorry for making y'all dizzy...I fixed it though! You can re-read it if you want to!  
**

**Thanks a lot for reading this long A/N! I love you all so much and see you on the next chapter! **

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	4. Chapter 3

**_Northern Isles_**

* * *

**"Okay, hold up!"** Kristoff catches up with his lover, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around to face him. "You're _not_ getting yourself in trouble again." Kristoff glares at Anna who's keeping her determined face.

"Kristoff, I _have_ to do this!"

"No, you don't. Elsa agrees to this! You want to rebel against the council _and_ the queen?"

"_Please_, I'm the princess here. I'm as much as important as they are." Anna slips away and runs inside the council chamber. Elsa is currently occupied with the arriving trade partners. After that, she will have lunch with them before she resumes the arranged marriage discussion with the council in a few hours. So, Anna has plenty of time to proceed with her _plan. _Anna theorizes if she messes up with the betrothal documents, the council will buy some time organizing them, and she will have more time to think of ways to ruin the wedding plans.

As soon as she steps inside the council chamber, she rushes to the shelves and searches for the marriage documents. They left the papers filled with the information of Elsa's future spouse on one of these shelves last night. She quickly recognizes the papers with specific snowflake crests printed on every single page and pulls them out. She can hear Kristoff slowly walking up to her side as soon as she spreads the documents on the table.

" '_Kingdom of the Northern Isles_?' " Kristoff reads out loud. "I instantly feel odd about this," Kristoff rubs his head at the thought of Anna's criminal ex-fiancé.

"I feel odd about this since day one." Anna hums and flips the pages. The handwriting is beautiful—just like she saw it before. Anna's eyes automatically narrow by themselves at the particular name being repeated in almost every sentence.

" '_Prince Jackson_?' "

"More like Prince _Jackass!_" A light grey-haired young man with dark green royal vest runs after another young man with silvery-white hair in dark blue attire. The grey-haired prince swiftly reaches for his younger brother, who keeps messing with him. He forcefully pulls the younger one but loosens his grip as fast as he reaches for it. The white-haired prince had covered his brother's shoes with the oil he had stolen from the pastry last night. Smirking, he uses his free hand to jab one of the empty vases marched in the castle hallways. The grey-haired prince gasps as he secures the vase and replaces it with himself to kiss the ground. His ears turn red, scolding himself to let the white-haired devil on the loose.

"A _bunny_ indeed! Pretty fast, but still pretty _stupid_." The white-haired one sticks out his tongue and sprints away out of sight. He can hear his frustrated older sibling yelling and cursing at him from the distance.

Prince Jackson is the thirdborn of King Nicholas and Queen Katherine of the Northern Isles. Just like the common youngest son in the family, Prince Jackson—or Jack—tends to be more childish, daring, rebellious, energetic, and—most of all—_irresponsible_. He would ditch his lessons and only attend the ones held in the field—such as sword-fighting and archery. The young man has had little knowledge of his own kingdom since he spent most of his study doodling the funny faces his tutors made. For a 24-year-old prince, he acts _nothing_ like it.

He has two older brothers, Prince Asterson and Prince Zanderson, and one younger sister, Princess Emmeline. He has the funniest sibling-relationship with the firstborn—Aster for short. Aster's personality is almost the opposite of Jack's. Aster is responsible, deadly serious, and strict. As the oldest child, his father always reminds him to set a good example for his little brothers and sister. As a result, Aster strives for perfection. The behavior of Aster is the proof of why he has more than one catfight in a day with Jack. Jack will spend his free time sneaking inside Aster's study and annoy him, starting from simply poking his shoulders to plotting nasty pranks on him. Even though they drive each other nuts, they still care and secretly look out for each other. When Jack noticed Aster's too enervated, he would steal carrots from the kitchen and throw the poor vegetables to his face. Aster would respond to his attack with the same brutality level but smile once Jack's out of sight; carrot is his favorite snack after all. His strange liking towards carrots, his abnormal speed while running, and his eavesdropping ability are the reasons why Jack calls him _Bunny_.

Sandy, Prince Zanderson, shares too many traits with his older brother but is far more reasonable than Aster. Sandy is also responsible and serious but way less strict. The blonde-haired prince is also a neutral, not too hot-headed like Aster and not too crazy-minded like Jack. The fact that he is silenced since he was born rubs off to his gentle personality. Sandy will be the mediator in all Jack-and-Aster fights because of how patient he is. Sandy is Aster's most reliable person, so he spends more time with Aster, helping him with royal agreements because Jack is a hopeless case; but Sandy will spare some of his time being Jack's private tutor. Sandy will approach him and tell him the things he missed at his lessons. Sandy teaches sign language in the kingdom, too. He opens the castle for the public and welcomes everyone, including visitors from other islands, to study sign language with him every Friday.

Princess Emmeline—or Emma, as her family calls her—has the closest relationship with Jack amongst all her siblings. Just like Jack, she is all about fun and adventures, but she still manages to keep her responsibilities as a princess by attending her royal studies and some other petty activities around her young age. Aster plays a massive part in Emma's competent side; he'll make sure Emma stays pure from Jack's immaturity. However, being a sneaky young man he is, Jack will always manage to steal her sister from her boring studies and take Emma outside the castle walls. He'll tell the brunette princess random stories, and make her laugh by tickling her or bombarding her with jokes. Jack promises to give all the fun things to Emma; she needs to understand that it's important to live life to the fullest before puberty hits her. On the other side, Emma—surprisingly—plays the role of Jack's private counselor. Emma will say it right to his face if he does something wrong and Jack will gladly accept all of her opinions without getting offended in any way. She's a kid after all, and Jack treasures the innocence and the honesty of a child the most. Being a 6-year-old and the only girl in the family, her three brothers will always and orderly spoil her with tons of affection and attention; the case pretty much resolved in how Emma inherits all of her brothers' main characteristics. Emma is as constrained as Aster, gives excellent advice like Sandy, but can be a silly goofball like Jack.

The princes and princess grew up close to their father. King Nicholas is a jolly man and someone who can easily see the wonder in everything, though he starts to lose some of his old-self from the day his regal wife, Queen Katherine, returned to God. Her pregnancy with Aster was remarkably a success. She started to get sick while bearing Sandy—causing him to suffer from the impossibility in speaking—and grew even more worse when Jack came, she also stopped breathing for a while. Fortunately, the queen managed to give birth to Jack. Queen Katherine gave her last breath to her daughter, Emma. The kingdom grieved for years, and the king's colors faded ever since. Still, King Nicholas is a father with four blessings from God. He vowed to always make his sons and daughter happy and protect them with all his might.

The late Queen Katherine was a wonderful wife and even a wondrous mother. She completed all the materials of those roles, though she was also famous due to her magical tales. Aster, Sandy, and Jack were all spoiled by her endless stories of magical beings. She shared her stories with her citizens as well. Her love for the unimaginable was one of the reasons why King Nicholas fell for her, despite her gorgeous auburn hair and warm eyes. She had the most beautiful mind, and he could spend the rest of his life just by listening to her thoughts. Because of that, the Northern Isles' rewarded her the nickname _Guardian of Storytelling_.

All of them live in the Northern Isles, a petite kingdom with a beautiful snowflake royal as its iconography. The official snowflake represents the cold territory in which the kingdom is located in and also the fact that it is the farthest kingdom to the north. Not many people know about their home, and they only form alliances with very few kingdoms. King Nicholas would always tell his children that the path to their land is treacherous. The Dark Sea is not one to be messed with, its raging winds and seething tides are far too risky to be faced by ships. People from outside the territory will have to travel by land, which will take them weeks to reach the isolated kingdom. However, the rough circumstances cause the northern men to be the best sailors in the world. The Northern Isles' are all old salts—expert sea captains—and they get along with the Dark Sea pretty well, although they still need to calculate the weather whether it is safe or not to sail.

The Northern Isles is not that big, so does the palace for the royal family. The castle is considered small compared to the other kingdoms, Prince Zanderson clarified it through the many books he had studied about various islands. Although the size is never a problem to King Nicholas, Queen Katherine, their children, and their families before them. They love their home with all of their hearts, how it is mostly covered by trees and plants and later replaced by snow—_especially_ since the third-in-line prince possesses a unique ability to command winter at his own will.

Jack was told he was born with winter abilities and that was _all_; no one ever really knew _why _and _how_. He had been warned to keep it a secret from everyone—his family was the only individuals who were allowed to know about it. Jack didn't bother pressing the topic further.

Up until now, he understands that his gift is a mystery to this world. It needs to stay hidden until he _completely _understands what it is meant to be.

The prince can conjure snow, establish frost, even create a _blizzard_. He also has control over the wind, although his mother would constantly remind him that the wind _is _a _friend_. Jack agrees because the wind strangely acts on its own—as if it is its own _being_—and only obeys him when he _asks nicely_, unlike his other powers which appear just by a swing of his hands. Another bizarre fact comes from his _crooked staff_—with beautiful patterns of frost covering the surface—which helps Jack boost up his power. The incredibly unique staff looks like any normal stick, but it is actually unbreakable. Little Jack tried to split it into two many times, but he never succeeded. His mother told him the staff had always been with him ever since he was a baby; of course, Jack didn't remember that. She speculated it was connected with his powers and advised him to protect it because it's a part of him. Little Jack found it funny and shrugged it off, which was why he tried to break and toy with it.

However, growing up, he holds the staff dear because it reminds him _so much_ of his mother's _love_.

Deep inside, Jack has always felt so different—as if he could not fit in anywhere, not even his own family. _None _of his siblings has powers. He is the _only exception_. No one he knows has powers either. He _isn't _like everyone else. During those hardening moments, his mother was the _only _person who fully and wholeheartedly supported him for his ability. She frequently asked him about how much his powers had grown and demanded him to try out new things. His father and his older brothers never showed as much interest as his mother regarding his powers. However, Queen Katherine assured him that his father was only busy with the kingdom and his brothers needed to focus on their lessons.

When she died, he died, _too_, but he had his _staff_—and it felt as if she was _right there_, and she had never left him. The pain of loss decreased day by day as little princess Emma grew up. She was the light that chased away the darkness which had been haunted the kingdom over the queen's passing. The princess was the _exact _copy of his mother. Queen Katherine's love for his gift passed down to Emma. That explains why Jack is closer to Emma than to Aster and Sandy. She accepted him as much as his mother accepted him. As time goes by, his father and his brothers started to love his powers as well—all thanks to Emma who frequently insisted him to display more of his snowy tricks. King Nicholas, Prince Aster, and Prince Sandy began to cherish that side of him, and Jack was over the moon.

He is happy with the way things are, but he still cannot help the little hole inside his heart.

Why he has these powers?

Out of all people in this world, why it has to be _him?_

"Jack!" A young maiden in her early thirties laughs at him who's sneakily wandering around the palace—her short dark hair and colorful dress flow with the wind which enters from the balcony.

Princess Thiana is a former countess of the Mooruvellir kingdom, one of the Northern Isles' trade partners. She came for the first time three years ago for a vacation. Being an active member of the council, Countess Thiana obtained a broad knowledge of other lands. The skill was required to enlarge Mooruvellir's alliance. She soon discovered a kingdom far in the north; strangely, there weren't many records that contained enough information about the Northern Isles. When her fellow council members claimed that the kingdom wouldn't bring many benefits to Mooruvellir, Countess Thiana decided to pay the kingdom a visit and took a long ride with only her horse.

The countess graced into Prince Asterson's presence. Their love story is almost too cliché; the stunning countess met Prince Aster when he was gone horseback riding. He saw her and thought she was unique due to her colorful appearance. The countess found the prince dashing as well. He was arrogant at first, but she learned it was only an act to keep people away from messing with him—he would soon replace his father as king. They talked almost every day on the outskirts of the town and held their meetings a secret for one year. Countess Thiana only intended to dig deeper into the kingdom's archives at first, but eventually developed a feeling towards the next-in-line instead. Prince Aster played as the shy significant other, so Countess Thiana had to make the first move. In one wonderful day, by the blooming flowers and under the relaxing sun, she kissed him, but Aster was quick enough to say 'I love you' the first. The pair quickly rushed to King Nicholas, asked for his blessing, and almost got crushed by his surprising bear hug. The wedding set two months after since she had to take care of her former titles back in Mooruvellir and several count applicants who would soon replace her in the council. The royal family automatically treated the countess as their own. She spontaneously bonded with Sandy through her amazing skills in sign language, she amazed the little Emma with her sense of fashion, and she adored Jack's perfect white teeth. Most importantly, the three of Aster's younger siblings were glad to find their mother's warmth in Countess Thiana.

"Hey, Tooth," Jack smiles sheepishly and lands in front of his sister-in-law. _Tooth _is the nickname Jack gave her because she would always place her fingers between his mouth and check every single one of his teeth.

The woman quickly shoves Jack's mouth open and does her daily inspection. "Have you brushed your teeth?"

"_Tooth!_ Fingers off the mouth!" Jack pries her hands away. "Yeah, I have. _Twice_ this morning because you caught me eating Elvis' cookies." He rolls his eyes as Thiana laughs at his blurt.

"Well, it's not my fault you have a set of _freshly fallen snow_ teeth that needs to be protected!" Thiana squeals and gasps as soon as she realizes something. "Dad requests to see you in his study." The king felt an immediate attachment the first time she and Aster came to him. He quickly urged her to treat him as her own father.

"For what?" Jack looks down at Thiana's short figure while rising his left brow. "I _swear_ I attended the classes today."

"I think this isn't about one of your _misbehaviors,_" Thiana teasingly rolls her eyes. "He said it was exceptionally important."

"Alright. See you around—and, pretty _please_, keep your husband away from me. I don't want to have his claws on my perfect hair." Jack smirks and gives her a quick hug. Thiana giggles and nods anyway. She knows perfectly well every once in a while Jack will come to Aster's study and mess it up before he comes. She's not angry about it. She might be upset if Jack's stunts went a little too far, but Aster actually needed that. He burned his head too much with his work.

"You want to see me, Dad?" Jack coughs and pulls out a chair in front of his father's desk. King Nicholas smiles at his son as his hand twirls the edge of his awfully long white beard which nearly touches his big belly.

"I do, son," He begins and shifts his gaze to the documents—with particular crocus symbols—on the desk. "How are your lessons?" He asks while taking snippy glances from the pages.

"Boring." Jack casually responds.

"And your training?" The king chuckles at his silly question. Sir Jamie perfectly informs him of his third son's outstanding skills in the field.

"Those are fun." Jack chuckles and crosses his arms on the desk. The king gives him a warm smile and returns to the documents. Jack follows his father's aqua blue eyes and scans the papers. The unfamiliar crest sparks his intrusiveness. "I bet those two aren't the only questions you're going to throw on me?" Jack smirks and looks directly at his father's eyes as if they're reflecting his own.

The king hums and a broad smile curves on his lips. "How is your love life doing?"

Jack's breath hitches at the sudden topic. He is undoubtedly _straight_, but he's never interested in having an affectionate relationship with a _woman_. His personal maid is cranky, his female chef is noisy, and his old-woman tutor is damn scary—even Emma and Thiana can be moderately intimidating, too. He has had enough of horrifying women in his life; he _certainly _doesn't need another one with her own menacing issues.

"Same old," Jack shrugs and shuts down the negative thoughts.

"Well, are you ready for one?"

The next question catches him completely off guard.

_He hates where this is going._

"_Dad_, what are you trying to say?" Jack lowers his voice; seriousness debuts within him for the first time in years.

King Nicholas weakly laughs and breaks the silence with one single clap.

"Are you ready for _marriage?_"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Yo, this chapter has more than 3k words! I hope a longer chapter is enough to make up the previous chappie's delay, hehehe~ I hope you guys enjoy this part dedicated to the Northern Isles kingdom! I have other cool kingdom names for Jack's kingdom, but I wanna use this one for a certain pun later *inserts an evil smile emoji***

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- The guardians are royalties of the Northern Isles, where North is the father and the rest are his children, Jack's sister—which most people referred as Emma—when he was a human is also Jack's sibling in this story  
****\- Katherine, known as Mother Goose and Guardian of Storytelling, is an original character from the book series '**_**Guardians of Childhood**_**' written by William Joyce and she plays as Jack's deceased mother in this story  
****\- Mooruvellir and the Northern Isles kingdoms are my original ideas  
****\- Elvis and Sir Jamie are my original characters, Elvis is one of the butlers in the castle and Sir Jamie is the leader of the Northern Isles' militia**

**Thank you so much for the favs, follows, and reviews! I'm so so so so happy for your support! I'll see ya when the next chapter arrives~**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Maybe**_

* * *

**The temperature drops** as soon as King Nicholas utters his statement.

"You're going to fucking _ship me off_ to some _random kingdom_ without _my_ _permission?_" Jack stands from his chair, eyes burning down at his father's calm ones.

"_Language_, Jackson." King Nicholas raises his voice. "You ought to know this is for your own _good_. You will start a new life—"

"Screw your bullshit, Dad." Jack rolls his eyes. "You know I don't want this,"

The king sighs and lets the silence mingle with the slow, cold wind swirling inside his study. His eyes fixate at the kingdom's crest. "Trust me, Jack, I _do_." His warm pupils return to Jack, eyeing his thirdborn's frozen features. "But, I know this is for the best. You will make a fine king—"

"No, I _won't_." Jack hisses. "You can't just put me in a sack, toss me into a magic portal, and expect me to do everything as you say." He continues and sends daggers through his stares. "I'm not like you guys, and I'll _never_ be." He ends the conversation and storms out of the room, leaving ice trails along with his footprints.

* * *

"You _really _are one of a kind. Who refuses an opportunity to wed a queen?" Jamie is Jack's best friend; he is the castle's faithful blacksmith. Jack acknowledged his existence when King Nicholas requested Jamie's service to make a sword for the prince in honor of his thirteenth birthday. Jack grew up with impressive combat skills, proving his father he deserved to have his own set of armaments. He received a bow, got a spear, and earned himself a throwing knife. Finally, he was gifted with a sword. King Nicholas later introduced the creator of his sword to him and—due to the same age—their friendship boosted faster than a rocket. Jack then promised Jamie to share some of his education because of the boy's illiteracy. However, the effort hadn't given him that much benefit since Jack wasn't keen on listening to his tutors. Still, Jamie was grateful to have one person in his life after his parents were burned in a fire accident, leaving him responsible for his little sister, Sophie.

"_Really_, man? This _Elsa_ pretty much sounds like an _old_ _hag _or a _really ugly_ woman—_mentally _or _physically_—who still can't get a husband of her own!" Jack groans and continues to kick some pebbles, sending them to the clear lake. He can see the reflection of the petite castle behind him. He frowns, even more, upon seeing his father's window is left open.

"Or _maybe_ she's tremendously _gorgeous_, so she's still saving her vow for someone to her limits?" Jamie wiggles his eyebrows and washes his ashed face with the calm water.

"You spend too much time reading Sophie fairy tales." Jack snorts.

"Well, I'm grateful I'm no longer an illiterate!" Jamie proudly cheers and punches Jack's strong build playfully. "Seriously, though. She could be like that."

"My perspective is much more conservative," Jack shrugs, carelessly shoving away the thoughts of his set-up future wife. "What happened to you, anyway? You've always supported my idea." His meddling stirs to something else as he looks down at Jamie who's kneeling on the earthly soil.

Jamie looks up to Jack and painfully grins. "You said your father made this up, eh?" He stops and gives Jack the time to nod in confirmation. "You know I had three older brothers, two older sisters, and we all had a huge year gap, right?" Jack nods again. "I was pretty much as you, Jack. I had never really listened to my parents and lived my life the way I wanted it to be. You see—my parents were the most observant duo I've ever known. They saw through all of their kids' potentials and tried to light those up."

"They saw Caleb's and Claude's capability in sword fights. They urged them to volunteer to be the palace guards, my brothers followed, and they succeeded. Monty was far from Caleb's and Claude's bravery, but his intelligence awed us all. Our parents suggested he try someplace in the ministry, and he got a seat there. Pippa was always excellent in tailoring. They encouraged her to start a business of her own, and she turned out to be a brilliant seamstress. Cupcake was great with both mind and defense. My siblings and I never saw her that way due to her being super secretive and quiet about everything, but our parents did, and they pushed her to socialize more. Later, she was recognized by your kingdom's council and was asked to be their unseated member to help them with difficult situations. All of them had their own dreams, but they decided to make our parents happy by doing what Mother and Father told them."

Jack bends down and sits beside him as soon as he realizes Jamie has tears in his eyes. "Unlike my blood, I tried my own path—and realizing it now...being a magician is as stupid as it sounds back then, but a foolish determination was everything I had...so I blew it all up. I ran away from them, selfishly taking Sophie away with me because I wanted her to live her life on her own, too." Jamie takes a deep breath, and a march of tears dampen the soil. "The next thing I knew, my parents and my blooming older siblings all faded into ashes. They left me and let me drown in shame, guilt...a _huge _disgust towards myself because I couldn't make the two people—who gave me the chance to breathe—smile proudly at me when they were still breathing."

Jack feels his chest tightens by the time Jamie choked at his own tears. The prince gives the pauper a few moments to piece himself back together. "I immediately came back to my senses after their death and tried to modify some weapons." Jamie sniffs and looks up to the sky. "I'm thankful I have a handful of pennies to provide my life and Soph's now. I'm thankful for my parents and their guidance." He turns to Jack, who's melancholy staring down at his shoes.

He gently pats Jack's back. "People have different lives. Maybe creating your own path has a brighter future than listening to your father, or _maybe_ it's way brighter with you being a good kid and doing what your folks tell you." He pauses, waiting for Jack to look at him. "_Yet_, you don't know which _maybe _is _better_." Jack lifts his head up and stares at Jamie, who's smiling at him.

"_But_, if you want to take my advice, take the _maybe_ following your father's choice. Isn't it a lifetime achievement to make the old man happy before life gave up on him?"

* * *

Princess Emmeline hectically paces through rooms and hallways, seeking for a certain man with the hair color of an old man. She tries to listen to his angry footsteps, perceiving the area that seems a bit colder—still, no luck. The princess huffs angrily at herself and continues to look for her youngest older brother. Worry starts to burn her—now that the night is almost set—as she forces her 6-year-old body to keep searching for Jack. Who knows what in the world he's doing right now with that temper of his?

The library is next to his father's study. The whole heated conversation between her father and Jack interrupted Emma's table manner lessons. Emma asked Madam Trisha to go home early, so she could listen adequately to their discussion. Madam Trisha wasn't opposed to the idea. Little Emma is considered outstandingly intelligent for her age anyway. The moment Jack left, Emma preceded her way to his father's distressed state. His father told her everything, the whole _Jack's arranged marriage to the Queen of Arendelle_ issue. The King of the Northern Isles agrees, and—surprisingly—the Queen of Arendelle takes the same action as well. The proposals are signed, and there is nothing anyone can change. Emma isn't entirely against this idea. Of course, she wanted his brother to find love on his own, but he never even _tried_ to make a move on any girl. She even questioned his manliness sometimes.

"Hey, little goose," A smile finally lands on her lips as she meets Aster's soft emerald eyes.

"Hi, Aster," She skips a few steps and jumps to her brother's strong arms.

"As much as I hate his well-being, have you seen Jack goofing around?" Aster asks, and Emma replies with a faint shaking-head. Aster groans. His ears redden at the thought of Jack, who would likely to cause trouble again, is nowhere to be seen. His face softens as he looks down at Emma who's still inside his arms. "He needs to know that Father is under a lot of stress. We need to force him to agree."

As much as she wants to side Jack with this, she nods at Aster's words. After a few seconds of silence, Sandy returns from the courtyard with a soothing smile on his face.

'He's out there.' Sandy signs as the sister and brother follow. The three throw their gaze on Jack, who's lazily launching his winter powers, completely replacing the greens with blues. Plants are covered in ice. Trees are crept by frost. The various scents of flowers are lost to the strong smell of snow.

"The _hell_ you think you're doing?" Aster roars as they stand a foot away from Jack. Emma keeps her hand on Aster's, holding him before he could ever_ jump_ on Jack.

"You can see it by yourself, Bunny. You have big ears but pretty small eyes, huh?" Jack smirks at his big brother and plays with the snowball on his hand.

"_You little shit_—"

"We were worried about you, Jack," Emma cuts Aster off and pulls him back. Jack looks at his little sister and smiles warmly.

Aster rolls his eyes and steps forward. "Cut the shit. You know what's going on, Jackass." Eyes staring deep into Jack's ocean ones, he exclaims loud and clear. "Be a real prince for once and do what the king commands you." Sandy and Emma look at each other in torment. They return to Jack who's blankly looking at the garden coated with snow.

Jack throws the snowball as it hits the tree, adding more frost to its trunks. "I signed it."

"_What?_" The siblings hope their ears hadn't betrayed them.

"Come again?" Aster almost let out a shriek. Sandy and Emma stand still—too flabbergasted to say anything.

"Yeah, I know what you're all thinking." Jack chuckles and spins around to face his siblings properly. "For the _first_ time in what seems to be _forever_, Jackson _finally_ obeys his father!" He uses his female voice and then shrugs. "I guess I'm tired rebelling against him for too long—and I don't think I'll ever find a woman to love, so _fuck it. _I'll do whatever the shit he's telling me."

The siblings all stare at him in massive disbelief. Not just because Jack follows something for once in a while, but he_ literally_ _agrees _to an _arranged marriage?_ That doesn't matter now. _At least_ Jack didn't freeze the castle this time—unlike when he was forced to wear shoes for the first time during his toddlerhood.

Aster bitterly chuckles and breaks the awful silence. "Then, if you already agreed to all this, why bother being barbaric and throw a winter wonderland party out here?"

Emma and Sandy swiftly glare at their eldest brother. Gladly, Jack only laughs at the sight.

* * *

"You know, Jack," Thiana speaks as she opens Jack's wardrobe wide. "I met the queen once." She giggles as she enthusiastically dips her hands on Jack's royal outfits. She is definite that a mixture of black, white, and light blue is the perfect attire for Jack. Black resemblances his eyebrows, white stands for his flocks, and light blue compliments his eyes.

The hasty topic steals Jack's attention from the extremely thick _How to Behave in Front of a Lady_ book Emma gave him last night. "Really?" Jack hums and turns around, examining Thiana who's throwing a few of his suits on the bed.

"Yes!" Thiana beams, and her hand grasps a dashing dark blue suit buried deep inside the wardrobe.

"Right." Jack chuckles at his super energetic sister-in-law. She quickly puts the other clothes back inside and stares lovingly at her pick. "Bet she's _wonderful_." Jack scoffs and returns to his reading. Noticing the sarcasm, Tooth comes up with a slick idea.

"Wonderful_ indeed_." Thiana laughs and walks towards Jack with the suit. "She's merely old—I believe she's 35 next year. Last time I saw her, she had a somewhat scary smile with pretty ugly wrinkles all around her face."

Jack almost falls from his chair. "_What?_" He jerks his head to Thiana, who's smiling innocently at him. The council didn't tell him anything about his future wife because they claimed the _law_ had forbidden it. It actually sounded pretty stupid, but there _really_ is a _law _about it—chapter _something_ part_ something_ which Jack forgot to remember. Now, he knows the _real reason_ why the council kept her identity a secret. The _law _was only a dumb excuse to cover up his _extremely beautiful_ _future wife_ and to prevent him from not signing the treaty.

_Great. Just fucking great._

"She has a weird hair color, too," Thiana shrugs and puts the suit in front of Jack, scoring how good it looks on Jack's special day. Thiana volunteered to help Jack with his outfit to meet the Queen of Arendelle tomorrow; Jack and his father will sail today at dawn. The king leaves Aster in charge of the kingdom, leaving Thiana with nothing else to do.

"_Damn it_." Jack groans and slams his head to the thick book. "I'm more screwed than I thought." Thiana silently giggles at his reaction. She pats Jack's back comfortingly before urging him to man up and dress up.

* * *

Jack has never been so pissed in his entire life. Legs and arms crossed, he utters no word since his departure from his home. He miserably leans on the bulwark, blankly watching the bumping waves and the fleeting clouds. King Nicholas had tried to have a conversation with him, but it ended to no avail. The king completely understood his son's condition—which he blames himself for now and then—and decided to watch over the controls on the cockpit.

"Your Highness," Captain Fredrik approaches the prince with a warm smile painted on his lips. He is one of the citizens who possess a powerfully built figure—close enough to outmatch the King's giant size. The captain has led the army for years. A strong and experienced person as him is required to be the leader of the Northern Isles' navy due to the dangerous Dark Sea. Jack looks up at the captain and hums. "We will be arriving shortly." Nodding, Jack stirs his eyes to the several giant hills mounted in front of him. The ship slowly shifts to pass through the fjord. Jack finally sees a clear view of the island hidden in the Arenfjord.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the magnificent sight in front of him. Anyone can tell the kingdom is at its prosperous era from the many ships harbored on the gulf. The Northern Isles cruise moves closer as Jack sees the castle with its tall pillars in different heights. The castle sits proudly in the middle of the North Sea as a long stone bridge connects it to the island crowded with the common people's houses; there are also other smaller houses built on the small hills surrounding the kingdom.

The Northern Isles sailors swiftly tie the ship to the dock as the servants load the royalty's luggage and some other royal goods. King Nicholas walks out and smiles at the warm welcome from the local people, though there aren't many men wandering around the harbor. The council presumed it would be best to keep the marriage news as low as possible. The council originally had to welcome the royals, too, but having high-ranked individuals outside the castle would surely invite unnecessary attention from the citizens.

Jack walks behind his father and grins at them as well. Even though he is still pretty angered at his own state, he's pretty excited to marvel around Arendelle. The Northern Isles is twice smaller than this. Jack looks up and witnesses another angle of the giant hills. The young prince doesn't realize he has walked far enough from his father. He stops the moment his foot slightly bumps into something, and his mouth parts open in amazement.

"_Woah_." He smiles at the perfectly sculpted ice statue. It's a statue of a clock tower. It takes him a few seconds to realize other figures are resembling the other different buildings and monuments. The ice statues neatly march on a cubic wall and stop near the wooden stairs to the kingdom's official entrance. Jack observes his surroundings, making sure everyone's busy minding their own business and the distance is safe enough for him to play with his powers. He smirks, takes off his gloves, and reckons the details of the clock tower ice statue as he tries to make a similar, tinier one. The prince whispers in triumph as soon as he finishes the miniature of the clock tower. He clicks his fingers, fluxing the unneeded ice before the final touch.

_Well, it's ugly. _Jack hums to himself.

He really needs to contact the sculptor behind this exquisite art for a quick tutorial.

Jack jumps in surprise by the time he heard a loud gasp coming from his side. He turns his head and notices a beautiful lady who's only standing three feet away from his spot. Jack decides to keep his mouth shut at the lady's astounded face. Her blue eyes seem to glow in a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

The lady removes her hands from her mouth.

"OH MY GOD! You two are a match made in _heaven!_"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Hello, everyone! I hope you like the first chapter introducing the Northern Isles babies and their relationships and some pasts~ I do hope it entertains you! (even if there's so many curse words here...) ****I'll try my best to update faster now that I'll spend 24 hours locked inside my house due to the COVID-19 outbreak. And speaking of the Coronavirus, how are you all doing? Everything is fine with the home quarantine and social distancing? I hope everyone is safe and sound! Don't forget to keep yourself educated with the newest information about the virus to stay prepared!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Jamie, the first kid who believed in Jack in the movie, is a blacksmith here. His friends in the movie are his family  
****\- Madam Trisha and Captain Fredrik are my original characters  
****\- According to map shown in Frozen 2, Arenfjord is the name of fjord Arendelle is situated in**

**Thank you so much for the favorites, follows, and reviews! I'm thrilled to see more and more people reading this book~ I'll see you when the next chapter arrives in town!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	6. Chapter 5

_**Foresight**_

* * *

**The lady squeals** as she bounds around the _extremely _confused prince. Jack awkwardly chuckles and takes a few steps forward. He wonders how she still manages to keep her hood on while jumping uncontrollably like that.

"Thank you, _fair lady?_ But, I prefer to keep this one a secret for quite some time. Please?" He utters and glances at the people around them, ascertaining the lady's sudden burst doesn't draw any attention. He perfectly knows he ought to keep his powers a secret, but he _actually _breaks that rule a few times. Every time he brought Emma to sneak out, he'd hang out with the local kids and entertained them with his icy tricks.

"Oh! _Right!_" The lady giggles. "It'll be a cool surprise! Not that _cool_ cool but the _cool_ that suits you better! You know what I mean!" Jack purses his lips and decides to just nod at the lady who's getting mouthful the longer they talk. "This is _so_ exciting! I was so _wrong_ about you!" The lady laughs and claps her hands merrily. "You see, I was so against this marriage—but, now I see your charming look and that power of yours—_oh! I'm so happy!_" She starts to drift to her own fantasy again, leaving Jack as puzzled as ever, although Jack is less freaked-out now. Judging from the lady's sentences, this young woman already knows a thing or two about him. Jack assumes she is a royalty or some sort. Nobody knows about his and his father's arrival except for Arendelle's council and the royal family.

"Jackson? Who are you talking to?" The hooded lady stops squealing as King Nicholas walks closer to his son.

"_Oops!_ People can't see me here. Please, don't tell them you see me!" The lady nervously tells him.

"Alright, as long as you keep my secret," Jack replies and grins at the lady's sudden jittery.

"Sure thing! Bye, Prince Jackson!" The lady quickly dismisses herself and scurries to the entrance gates.

_Okay, she also knows my name—definitely a member of the royal family._

Jack can also hear her faint voices calling a certain person named _Kristoff_, and other bizarre ones such as _Sven_ and _Olaf_.

_Who are they? __Suckers for __Titanic?_

"Who was the lady you were talking to?" The king smiles and looks impressed by the statues, just like his son. He is an ice sculptor himself, so he has to stop and admire the piece of art. Jack, too, still wonders about the lady's identity, especially when she said _she _was _against _this _marriage_.

_Is she the queen's daughter? Oh, my God._

"Just a female citizen promoting Arendelle's ice statues," Jack shrugs off the depressing thought and shows his father his handmade clock tower miniature. "She even gave me one away for free."

King Nicholas looks back and forth between the giant clock tower sculpture and the tiny one. "The one she gave you looks awfully different."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

"AH! THE_ EXCITEMENT!_" Princess Anna lets out another one of her famous piqued screams and feeds Sven some carrots. Right after she successfully sneaked into the well-guarded harbor and accomplished her mission to see her sister's future husband before the ball tonight, she has been creepily smiling nonstop.

"You _really_ sure he has ice powers?" Kristoff hasn't shut up about the topic, too. Ice is his _life_. He's pretty pumped to meet this frosty prince.

"_Yes!_ He recreated Elsa's clock tower statue! His style was less detailed, bu—"

" 'More frosty.' We know, you've said it like five times already."

"I know! _I_ _know!_ I just can't wait until Elsa sees him! Oh, Kristoff, they will share _icy goo-goo eyes at each other_—"

" 'And make icy jokes.' You've said that five times, too."

"I know! I'm just so_ excited!_" Anna screams out an exhilarated sigh. Kristoff chuckles at his girlfriend and remains to neaten his ice harvesting tools for another go the next morning.

"Well, you might want to help Elsa get ready then."

"That's right!" Anna brushes her dress and picks up her black cloak from the pile of hay. "After that, I'll help _you_ dress up."

"Come on, you know I'm sane enough not to wear this outfit for the ball." Kristoff laughs as Sven gives his pal a look. "Hey, I may only have one outfit in life, but Kai will always lend me one."

"Still, I need to make sure you and Sven take a shower." Anna scoffs playfully. "And, please, promise me this stays between you _and_ me." Anna warns him, earning a growl from Sven. "And Sven."

"And Olaf." Kristoff adds.

"And Olaf—wait, _where's Olaf?_"

* * *

"I think I like the mousse better." Elsa moans delightfully at the sweet sensation inside her mouth. The Arendelle sisters have their sweet teeth from her father. On the other hand, her mother inherited their passion for any kind of tea. Although the sisters still put chocolate milk and hot chocolate on top. "_But_, I wish to have the tarts for dinner tomorrow." Elsa is currently finalizing the choice of desserts for the ball. She had finished food sampling yesterday, but she wanted to add one more menu after looking at the long list of guests that are about to arrive today.

"As Her Majesty requests," Chef Egil—or what Anna addressed as _Cook_ when she was young—bows before his queen and notices a slight disturbance on Elsa's face. "Is there something the matter, Your Majesty?" He smirks down at the queen who's smiling while shaking her head. Chef Egil is Elsa's and Anna's second father figure, after Kai. He has been working in the kitchen since before Elsa was born. He knows perfectly how to please the royal family with his supreme cuisines, luring them with his famous desserts. He is also a close friend to Olina, the sisters' godmother after Gerda, because the maid takes over the baking part and cooks Queen Iduna's favorite krumkaker cookies. "I'm not so sure about that." He chortles and lifts his pointer finger, gesturing Elsa to wait for a minute. The old man returns with chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and chips beautifying the surface.

Elsa's happiness swiftly lifts up. "Oh, Egil..." She says breathlessly and gratefully accepts the astonishing food. "I _truly_ appreciate this."

"That's more like the Elsa _I know_." He smiles and pats Elsa's shoulder comfortingly. "It's your engagement day today, Your Majesty! There's no reason to be sad." Elsa sighs and nods at the chef's support.

Nobody—except the royal family, the council, and a few other butlers and maids—knows about Elsa's plotted marriage. It's too risky if people find out the whole thing is only a _set-up_. Elsa hates herself for faking the whole scene. She once promised to her citizens that they are all a family bonded by hearts and a _family_ is not meant to keep things to their own, let alone a thing this _big_.

Chef Egil left a while ago to prepare for tonight's dishes with his fellow workers, leaving Elsa alone suffocated by the awful silence. A silence that allows her paranoid mind to control her brain. She wonders if there will be a certain guest who is conservative enough to tell there is no _love_ between her and her future husband—or, _worse. _What if the future Arendelle king _despises_ _her_ at _the first sight?_ Her awful thinking is erupted by a cracking sound of the dining room door which is being slightly opened.

"Hi, Elsa!" Olaf greets happily while waving his twig hand at the queen.

"Good day, Olaf," Elsa smiles and stands up to approach the snowman. "Is there something you need?"

"I was playing with Anna, Kristoff, and Sven at the stable." Elsa laughs at his honest answer and bends down to his level.

"Then why did you decide to go here?"

"I detected a fruit cake!" Olaf cheers and points at the kitchen.

"_Not yet_, Olaf. You have to wait for the ball to taste the foods." Elsa informs and Olaf just nods.

"Oh, I can certainly do that. Speaking of the ball, how excited are you?" Olaf beams as he looks at his creator with much excitement. Elsa was silenced for a few seconds before responding.

"I'm quite excited." Elsa smiles and shrugs.

"You should be _really_ excited!" Olaf tells her and, for some reason, it grows a confusion in Elsa's head.

"Why should I be _really_ excited?" Elsa mimics Olaf's expression.

"Because Anna told me yesterday that the pri—"

"OLAF! There _you _are!" Anna bursts into the conversation with lighting speed. She sighs in relief knowing that she comes just in time before Olaf could ever spill the surprising news. "I was looking for _you_ everywhere!" Anna snickers and glances at Elsa who's still pretty suspicious of Olaf's statement.

"Hi, Anna!" Olaf spins his body, facing Anna directly. "What do you need?"

"Oh—uh—Kristoff is looking for you! He needs help with—_something!_ Yeah, _something_." Anna forces her laughter, earning a more concerned look from Elsa.

"Whatever this 'something' is must be really important. Okay, I'll go right away!" Olaf leaves as soon as he arrives.

"Is everything going well for the ball?" Anna asks while watching Elsa stand up with a sweet smile.

"Everything is great, I think. I had just finished selecting the desserts for tonight. The main courses are ready to serve. I decided to pick Marte's design for the decoration and everything was set accordingly last time I checked. Gerda took care of the servants who would stand by near the food. The palace guards were well-prepared...It's the invitations I'm worried about. This ball is pretty short-noticed. The Northern Isles would make their grand entrance here and I'm a little nervous about how their first impressions of us would turn out to be..." Elsa keeps rambling on and on while fidgeting her fingers.

"_Okay!_" Anna laughs gawkily and places her hands on Elsa's shoulders. "So, the preparations are overall great, right? If it's just the guests you're worried about then you don't have to worry at all! Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, and I took a stroll yesterday morning. The kingdom hasn't shone this much in years! I saw the citizens open more gift shops and food stalls! The Northern Isles' and the rest of the guests will surely enjoy their time here."

"I guess so." Elsa sighs in relief but her expression changes when she realizes something. "_Wait_, you told me you stayed in your room for the—"

"We have _five hours_ before the ball!" Anna immediately stops her sister before she finishes her sentence and before herself gives away stupid excuses again. "I want to pick your dress and do your makeup!"

"I believe Gerda—"

"We'll replace that with my choice!" Anna desperately says. "_Come on, Elsa_. We had rarely done this since you were always busy with your work."

Elsa smiles at her sister. It's true, she has been ditching social interactions because of her duties. Now that she has a full day off, she really needs to bond with her blood more. "Alright, if you're not busy cuddling with Kristoff also."

* * *

"Okay, now spin! Whoa, wait—nope, _nope_. You look like a hippopotamus in that one. And, _ew_, _big behind!_ Where did you get that one?"

"A gift from one of those...big countries I recall."

"Well, it's a huge _no_. Try this one?"

"I believe I need to talk to every single one of the guests, Anna."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Too tight to even move a muscle. How's this one?"

"It's nice."

"Wait, I take it back. There's something off! I think it's the embroidery on its shoulders? Never mind. This one shall do!"

"I thought you said 'ew, big behind' just minutes ago?"

"I just realized! Sorry, I was only eyeing the top."

"Maybe I should just wear my ice dress?"

"Even though you'll always look gorgeous in that outfit, it's too _monotone_. You wear _that_ kind of dress for my birthday, winter holiday, and possibly _every day!_"

"I like to think of it as my signature style."

"_Right_, I see—but I think we should really try all these dresses! Give your powers a break!" Both Anna and Elsa have been pretty choosy with Elsa's ball gown. Well, Anna is the one taking the time though. She complains at every single detail of the dresses.

"Anna, I need to do a final checkup—"

"There's no need! I'm sure Gerda and Kai have everything handled! Now, you need to relax and let me give you an _extravagant_ transformation!" Anna excitedly claps her hands and swims further inside Elsa's massive wardrobe.

Elsa raises her eyebrow at her sister as she takes off the orange gown with the big behind. "Do I really have to be extravagant?"

"_Yes!_ You have to look _more_ than extravagant if possible! This is your _engagement ball_, everyone needs to know how beautiful my sister looks as a fiancée!" Anna blabs while her hands are skimming for a perfect dress.

Elsa joins her sister inside the wardrobe. "I thought you were against the whole thing." Anna mentally slaps herself. "You tried to raze today's event by sabotaging the marriage documents days ago," Elsa smirks suspiciously.

Anna keeps silent for a moment. A huge smile splashes on her face as she finds the perfect dress for Elsa. "I realized there was no way of stopping this," She squeezes herself between the enormous gowns and takes the hanger of the dress. "And I thought about what you said to me after the first council meeting discussing the proposal," Anna hugs the dress and approaches her sister outside the wardrobe. "I _will_ be happy for you." Anna smiles and hands Elsa her choice. Elsa can feel her tears form as she glances down at the dress.

Her mother wore that breathtaking blue gown when the first line to the Arendelle throne knelt in front of her with a loving smile and a diamond ring. Elsa and Anna will never forget how their parents' eyes gleamed wherever the sisters asked for their engagement story.

"Oh, Anna..." Elsa blinks her tears away and pulls Anna to her embrace. "_Thank you_."

Anna giggles and snuggles into Elsa's hair. The strawberry blonde pulls away and lifts the dress. "Don't thank me yet! We still need to do your makeup!" She cheers and pulls her sister out of the wardrobe.

"Alright, Your Highness. Please, make me look _extravagant_." Elsa laughs and starts to wear her mother's dress.

"Roger, Your Majesty!" Anna uses her male voice and rushes to collect the makeup tools.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Welp, I said I'd try to update faster, right? So, here you go!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Cook is what Anna calls as the castle' chef in the '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**' book, but I'd like to give him a proper name and I came up with Egil  
****\- Olina is another maid, the woman who skated with Kai at the end of the movie and is his wife as well, but is more focused on the kitchen baking stuffs  
****\- Olaf favors fruit cake based on the short '**_**Olaf's Frozen Adventure**_**'  
****\- Marte, is the royal event planner who's expert in design, is my original character; I got the idea from '**_**Frozen Adventures Game**_**'  
****\- The sisters have their own huge wardrobes, but Anna likes to borrow her sister's stuffs based on one of Frozen's deleted scenes '**_**The**__**Dressing Room**_**'**

**Thank you so so so SO MUCH FOR 50 FOLLOWS! I'm exquisite to see this book is getting merrier and merrier! You guys are all so sweet and I'll try to keep this "faster update" going! (not that I have nothing to do with this whole home quarantine thingy...) See you when the next chap hits!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Trouble**_

* * *

**Jack stares outside** in a relaxing silence. He finally has some time to himself after hours of boring talks with some of the council. Count Eirik, the Count of Arendelle, came over a few hours ago to talk about the engagement. Jack refuses to pay attention—the only thing he kept a note about was how they were still uninformed to his wintery abilities. Instead, he busies himself checking out the unique flower-like patterns in almost every speck of the kingdom—which he has learned to be a _rosemaling_.

The prince continues to admire the busy evening of Arendelle through the thin curtain of the Borgbro Inn, the fancy inn the Northern Isles' royalties currently staying at. The council had prepared the best inn with the most-qualified services and facilities for the Northern Isles' royal family. It is also located right in front of the castle—only separated by a bridge made of stones which leads to the main gates. The ideal spot enables the young prince to have a perfect sight of the preparations at the castle's courtyard through the opened-wide gates. His eyes land on men lifting and positioning tables and chairs, women serving numerous kinds of traditional foods, and kids running around while helping the adults to place the flowers and balloons. Jack is somewhat curious about the lack of candles around the outdoor decorations. Then, his heart interrupts his mind with an interesting idea.

_Well, why don't you find out yourself?_

Jack grabs his cloak, lifts its hood to cover his signature white hair, and readies his staff. "Wind, mind giving me a ride?" Twitching his pale lips into a smirk and feeling the wind answering to his call, he sneakily _flies_ out of the room. He finds a spot behind a tree to take off as he puts up his _old man_ cover. He sits on the tree for a while and rests his staff on his shoulder. The staff is his power-unleashing tool, but it is also beneficial for his _disguise _whenever he wants to take a good stroll around the kingdom without having four to six bodyguards circling his walk.

He admires the decorations put by the citizens. He throws a quick glance at the ice cream cake and figures he can have a taste. He absentmindedly pulls down his hood to prevent it from getting dirty. He wouldn't want his noisy maid making a huge deal out of his contaminated cloak—

"_Eek! An old man!_" He jerks his hand away from the tempting cake and glances at a young boy covered in colourful cookie dough all over his cheeks to his chin. The boy laughs and verges upon the poor prince in disguise. He quickly puts back his hood, escaping a little scowl for his dumb unconsciousness. His nervousness gets the best at him as the boy—not higher than his knees—tugs his royal trousers.

_He prays to the God above this boy won't notice the crest of the Northern Isles sewed on the pocket._

"H—hey_, young man_." Jack mentally slaps himself at his failed attempt copying the old baker back in his kingdom.

"A _stuttering_ old man!" His laughter echoes bigger but—thankfully—not enough to avert the adults' focus from finalizing the decorations. "I _love_ it!" He scoots closer to Jack, causing the prince to lowers his hood. "I saw you tried to take that cake, sir." The boy toothy grins and wipes off the cream on his face using his sleeves. "Sadly, you can't take that one! Not yet! _But_, my friends and I are making cupcakes! You can eat them now!" The boy humbly bows and directs the prince to follow him. Jack cannot fight his smirk and lets the boy drag him to the other side of the backyard.

Unlike the sight he was seeing, the _kid special area_—which is located behind the Arendelle Chapel—is massively chaotic. Children running here and there covered in eggs, flours, and other cake ingredients, though some are sitting carelessly with their books. Jack smiles widely at the amount of happiness all around him. He always has a thing for kids. He admires their free spirits. They aren't tied up with responsibilities. They don't have to worry about a thing. They can do whatever they want to do. Jack can only wish the younglings to stay that way.

His parents might have obliged him to some strict rules regarding his winter abilities, but—aside from his abnormality—he was pretty much a free bird judging from how many times he had escaped from the castle with the help of the wind and appeared at different spots every time he was found. Now that he's coped up with duties as a prince and responsibilities as an adult, he realizes how important it is to always cherish a pure joy of childhood. He had always felt this kick to make sure the children treasure these moments while they last, explaining why he did everything he could to entertain them.

"Here are the cupcakes, sir!" The boy halts beside a white-clothed table and gestures Jack to move forward. His eyes widen slightly at the twelve beautifully coloured and perfectly baked cupcakes. He thought those things were going to be a disaster judging from the boy's apron. He is also greeted by a group of the boy's friends. Jack smiles and waves back at the group's amorous welcome. He sees the boy from the corner of his eyes who is now entering a small cottage with daisies marching around it.

"Old man! Try it!" Another boy—shorter than the first one—gives Jack the pink cupcake which Jack assumes as the strawberry-flavoured one. Jack doesn't say anything—afraid to blow his cover or get teased for his horrible old man voice—and thankfully accepts the offer. Once the kids' focus isn't fully on him, he secretly dismisses himself and climbs up a tree. He eats the cupcake and watches the kids chattering in front of him, laughing at their own absurd jokes. Jack stays silent the whole time with his playful smirk plastered on his mouth.

"Ah! There you are!" The previous kid who dragged him all the way to the children area spots him under the leaves and climbs up to sit by his side on the thick stem. Jack freezes for a moment and wonders how this kid has always managed to find him whenever he doesn't want to be found.

"_Phew!_ You are really cool, old man! You are really good at climbing!" The kid grins the moment he places himself beside the prince. "How is the cupcake, sir?" He points at the prince's mouth while playing with some leaves.

"_Good_." Jack smirks in triumph. He just _successfully _said a word with his old man voice.

"I know, right!" The kid smiles. "Queen Elsa invites us to the castle and she teaches us how to bake!" Jack nods with a smile. "She has so many plates and cookies and rooms! I really love the castle! Queen Elsa shows us how to crack eggs and spin the cake dough! After that, she teaches us how to shape the cake and we put them in the oven—then _wham!_ It's yummy!"

Jack watches the kid's shining hazel eyes and forms a smile of his own.

_Well, the queen actually sounds nice._

"Queen Elsa invites old people to the castle, too!"

"Really? For what?" Jack quickly shoves the cupcake down to his throat to shut himself for ruining his own act. Fortunately, the kid is too stimulated on sharing the story with Jack.

"She gives my grandpa and his friends some teas and cookies! They talk and laugh—they even dance sometimes! Queen Elsa is so great with words and is really kind!" Jack's smile widens at the thought of Arendelle's recent ruler. "She does that for...uh..._twelve years!_" Jack drops his grin and leaves it on the ground.

_Twelve years?_

"She never gets bored making us happy! I love her!" The boy keeps rambling on how great his queen is, but Jack seems to lost track of focus. _Twelve years_. All Jack ever know about this queen is only her name, _that's it_, so he comes up with his own _calculation_.

He assumes the queen inherited the crown at the age of _twenty-one_ and ruled the island for _twelve years_ or—_worse_—_more_ than that.

_His wife could be at least nine years older than him!_

Then he just remembers Tooth told him she was _35 years old_ last time Tooth saw her.

_The world must've hated him so much for such destiny._

His train of guesses on how their havoc marriage is going to be is interrupted by a resonant sound of the clangoring bells. "Oh! It's finally ringing!" The boy gasps and jumps down from the tree. He straightens his wrecked outfit as soon as he lands on the grass. "My mom will be mad at me if I'm late. I hope you can get down on your own!" The boy grins and jogs away.

The colours of the prince's face disperse in a blink of an eye.

A ringing bell.

_The engagement ball_.

"_Shit_." Jack growls and storms away. Jack is no longer worried about his marriage now, he is more concerned about his father's earth-quacking rage once that hugely scary old man steps inside the room and finds out he's not inside. He's in _so_ much trouble.

The boy watches how the old man bolts away in agape. He seriously needs to learn how to run like that in such a fragile age. "_Leif!_" The boy turns around and faces his mother with her usual uniform as the castle's loyal servant and a smile on her face. "What stories did you tell the old man?" The mother asks warmly and fixes Leif's coat. Leif had told her mother about his encounter with the old man when he went inside his cottage earlier.

"I told the old man about Queen Elsa and her job for twelve years!"

"_Twelve?_" Her mother raises her brow and laughs at her firstborn. "Leif, you do remember _two_ is _not_ _twelve_, right?"

"_Oops..._"

* * *

"Seven guards at the east wing, the other seven at the west?"

"Check!"

"Ten at the front, ten at the back?"

"Check!"

"Plates?"

"_Eight thousand salad plates_, check!"

"Dishes?"

"All set except for the grilled ones—ten more minutes, I think."

"Maids and butlers?"

"Uniforms on and positioned at all tables. Check!"

"Decorations?"

"Check! I think we need more flowers though..."

"Lastly, guests?"

"Two-thirds of the kingdoms are here." Anna returns to her chair after she stole a quick glance at the ballroom outside the window. The sisters have been spending the last minutes inside Elsa's study, making sure the preparations for the ball is ready before it starts half an hour from now. Anna volunteers to help because she is also waiting for Kristoff to dress up with the help of Kai. She refuses to linger around those bratty royalties; Olaf is nowhere to be seen anyway, probably too consumed by his books now that he can read—which is Dante Alighieri's_ Inferno_ recently.

"Including the Northern Isles?" Elsa rests her chin atop her palms and stares at the window with the view to the castle gates.

"Northern Isles..." Anna murmurs and looks through the attendance list once again. She swallows her breath before squeaking. "—is with the _one-third_ one."

"_Oh my God_—"

"_Okay!_ Before you flip out or anything, I'm _sure_ they're on their way!"

"They're supposed to arrive before anyone else to discuss _our_ _act_." Elsa groans in distress. She thought these people from the Northern Isles would punch the clock on time—_in time _even—which was why she didn't want to bother the council to accompany their way here. They stay at Arendelle's finest inn which is situated _right _in front of the castle gates. They only need to take a _couple _of steps _forward _and they are still _late_.

"I'm sure they have everything managed." Anna grins sheepishly and rubs her arms out of nervousness.

Elsa sighs and slumps her head to her folded arms. "I hope so,"

"All you ought to do is just sit tight and stay pretty," Anna reassures and hands her a jar of chocolate cookies. Elsa sighs gratefully and takes out one. "So, to buy some time...Let's have some sisterly talk!"

"About?" Elsa replies without any hint of emotion.

"Anything!" Anna shrugs and stuffs another cookie into her mouth.

Elsa remains silent for a moment, eyes piercing into Anna's jolly face, ears listening to her happy tune, mouth elegantly munching the chocolate cookie. Anna may be one of those magical creatures who could burst tons of emotions in a split of a second, but recalling from the way she loathed this marriage—even had the intention to ruin it. There's no way she could be this _enthusiastic _about today's engagement ball.

"Why did you agree to this?" The question catches the poor strawberry blonde off guard, but Anna quickly straightens up.

"I told you yesterday—_yesterdays_, right? I try to be happy for you."

"It couldn't possibly be that simple, Anna." Elsa reasons and shifts her position to face her sister. "I know _you_. I know how fast your moods shift and your thoughts change, but not in this _case_—not when you already derived your mind to something because of how self-willed you can be. I know there must be a major notion behind your effort to try." Elsa finally uses her checkmate confrontation and Anna knows perfectly there is no way of getting out.

Anna bites the insides of her cheeks and grips a hem of her dress to cover up her nervousness. As much as she wants to make it a surprise, she can't dodge away now. "A few days ago while you were doing dessert sampling, I went out with Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf," Anna glances at her to see any slight change of reaction from her sister. "We went to the harbour."

"When I _strictly_ told you _not_ to." Elsa's expression hardens. Anna was still being unreasonable about the wedding that time, so Elsa had to get her out of away by ordering her to stay inside the castle before she could possibly wreck something.

"_Exactly!_ Sorry, but I can't help it..." Anna trails as she lowers her head. "I didn't do anything."

"I honestly doubt that."

Anna shifts her eyes to the floor and fiddles with her toes. "Alright. I'm being honest now," Anna weakly groans and rubs her cheek. "I met—"

"Your Majesty. Your Highness." Kai swiftly merges inside the room with a relieved smile on his face.

"The Northern Isles has arrived."

Anna screams and thanks to the God above.

Elsa mentally notes they will finish the conversation as soon as the night is over.

•••

_**Author's Note**_

**Hi, folks! Here's another update for you all super supportive readers! **

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Arendelle have names for its streets, Borgbro street is the road which connects village to the castle including the bridge, so I named the hotel Jack's staying at as Borgbro inn, the concept of the inn located in front of the castle gates itself is from me  
****\- Leif is my original character, he is one of the maids' son  
****\- According to '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**', Olaf listened to a lecture about the book **_**Inferno **_**by Dante Alighieri**

**Thank you so much for the many reviews, follows, and favorites! I honestly never thought I could reach those numbers. Thank you for making that happen! Hopefully I'll be able to post another chapter soon!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Unlikely Prince**_

* * *

**King Nicholas is boiling. **"You are in _so_ much trouble, young man."

"Dad, I _swear_ I put up a pretty good disguise—"

"This is not about blowing up your cover. This is about giving your _best_, _first_ impression." King Nicholas stops from his tracks and sharply stares down at his youngest son. "I hope you are aware now we are 25 minutes late for your engagement ball."

Jack fights back the urge to roll his eyes and keeps his head low in defeat. The big man raging is the last thing he would like to deal with. The speed of their steps begins to slow at the sight of Arendelle's royal guards patrolling the gates and welcoming the guests.

"Your Majesty," A hoarse voice calls upon the ruler of the Northern Isles. The king returns the greeting with a relieved smile as he walks closer to the loyal council.

"Ah, Greg! I have never been so pleased to see you." The count slightly bows and shares a smile. He turns to the young prince and smiles proudly at him.

"Prince Jack, how are you feeling about your engagement party?" Count Gregory politely asks, but he can't control the playful grin pulling the corner of his lips.

"_Splendid_." Jack scoffs.

Count Gregory laughs and nods at Jack's discomfort. "I'm sure you'll be even more delightful as soon as you see your future wife."

"Yeah, sure." Jack shrugs and keeps his eyes on the busy kingdom. He finally erupts a smile at the familiar sight landed in front of him. The decorations are even prettier from the last time. They already put the fruits in bowls and cookies in jars on the table. Jack notices one particular tray with a bunch of colorful cupcakes. He smiles and reminds himself to thank the kids later for their astonishing work. They also add more flowers surrounding the table. Jack admires how many flower species Arendelle has.

"Jackson, _come_." King Nicholas calls upon his son while gesturing to the giant door behind him. Jack reluctantly trails behind his father.

"How is your stay at the Borgbro Inn, Your Majesty?" Count Gregory asks as they march towards the entrance of the castle.

"Ah, it is fantastic!" King Nicholas laughs and rubs his big stomach. "We had good cuisine and the workers were all friendly."

"I'm glad to hear that. Queen Elsa wants me to make sure you and His Highness are having no trouble with the accommodation."

"Not at all! We had the best day."

"I'd also like to inform you your belongings will be escorted to the guest chamber soon, along with a private butler to serve you over your stay." Count Gregory adds as they arrive in front of the giant double door.

King Nicholas nods and both step inside the palace. "That is very kind of her."

"His Majesty, _King Nicholas of the Northern Isles!_"

"_Lord Gregory of the Northern Isles!_"

As soon as the herald announced their arrivals, King Nicholas and Count Gregory turn around and find _Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles nowhere to be found_.

"That _one hell of a son_—"

"_King Nicholas_, I think it's best to save the _outrage _for _later_." Count Gregory nervously whispers to his king and guides him to the ballroom where the event is held. "We cannot keep the queen wait any longer."

King Nicholas pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries not to explode and shove every single food present down his belly out of temper. "_Alright_. I can do this. Remind me to give my son a piece of my mind after this?"

"Will do, Your Majesty." Count Gregory quickly nods as they dive into the sea of royalties. _Unfortunately_, Queen Elsa is not that hard to find. _In fact_, she's standing right _there_, conversing with her guests. "On second thought, I think we could wander around a bit—"

"_King Nicholas!_ Thank _goodness_ you are finally here!" The royal advisor approaches the two with a sheepish grin crossing his lips. "My apologies. My name is Kai, Queen Elsa's advisor. Queen Elsa has been waiting for you and your son—" Kai stops as he looks behind King Nicholas' giant figure.

King Nicholas and Count Gregory awkwardly look at each other. "_Ah, yes._ I _certainly_ cannot wait to meet the queen. Do lead the way, kind sir."

Kai reluctantly nods and leads the two. "Right this way, Your Majesty, my lord."

* * *

"Your Majesty," Queen Elsa steals a quick glance at Kai, noticing his approach along with two individuals with snowflake crests plastered all over their suits. She excuses herself from the dignitaries of Zaria and turns to face her godfather and his companions.

"May I present you King Nicholas and Count Gregory of the Northern Isles." Elsa's eyes broaden a bit as she flashes both men with a welcoming smile. As much as she wants to lash out upon their delay, she needs to control her emotions so this evening won't end up like her _previous ball_. She actually wonders about the absence of the prince—her _future husband_—and plans to ask about it later. She doesn't want to stress herself even further.

"Queen Elsa, it is an honor to finally meet you." King Nicholas places his right hand on his chest and bows slightly. He looks calm yet frustrated at the same time, clearly seeing Elsa's uptight smile.

"It is an honor to me as well, King Nicholas." Elsa nods. "How was your sail?"

"The wind was kind, Your Majesty." King Nicholas replies weakly. "My sincerest apology for arriving late. We got caught up with a little problem on our way here."

"I hope it wasn't anything serious, Your Majesty. I'm glad you finally arrived." Elsa smiles reassuringly, accepting the old man's guilt. She notices how his eyes picture his sincerity and let this topic slide. She turns and glances up at Count Gregory. "It is nice to see you again, Count Gregory." Count Gregory met Elsa a couple of times before. Along with Count Eirik, he travels back and forth from Northern Isles to Arendelle to discuss the details of the marriage.

"The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty. I'm here to inform you the rest of the council is on their way." Count Gregory replies and nods at Kai's direction. Kai responds with the same gesture and steps closer to the queen.

"It is time to start the ball, Your Majesty." Kai smiles at the young queen and directs to the guests which are starting to crowd the ballroom.

Elsa smiles back and looks back at the royalty of Northern Isles. "Did your son travel with you, my lord?" She tries to hide her skepticism as much as she can.

"Yes, Your Majesty, but we—" King Nicholas stole a glance at Count Gregory's troubled face. "We might have lost him on our way here," King Nicholas bites the inside of his cheeks and nervously avoids Kai's shocked gasp.

"_Lost him?_" Elsa raises an eyebrow and feels her irritation grow. "I'm sorry but I don't follow." They already arrived _late_ and the trouble _didn't_ stop there.

"We got separated at the entrance. The crowd was thick and he probably went another way." Count Gregory blurts and applies the politest grin. "I'll find him, Your Majesty. A young man with striking white hair amongst the crowd will be easy to be spotted."

The queen needs a few seconds to absorb such information. "Thank you, Count Gregory," Elsa nods curtly, though she feels a bit amused by the fact that her future husband has white hair. She had always thought platinum blonde was peculiar enough. "But shouldn't Prince Jackson and I discuss our _feigning?_ Surely we need to make the guests believe we have _at least_ talked before."

"I believe Your Majesty and His Highness would work it out before the guests could ever notice."

"I want to believe that, but I don't think it would be that easy." Elsa instantly replies back to Count Gregory, failing to hide her blossoming vexation. Elsa, being _Elsa_, sets some pretty high expectations for her future husband. He is going to be the _King of Arendelle_, a king of her home and—as much as she hates admitting it—_herself_. Meanwhile, _this _Prince Jackson cannot even _commit_ to his own words and Elsa has _enough_ of his father and his kingdom's count covering up for his mistake. "I'm sorry, but I don't think a short time is ever enough to build a conversation with someone who fails to appreciate the importance of punctuality." Elsa mentally pinches herself her words came out a little harsh than she planned.

No one dares to utter a word for a moment. Kai and Count Gregory can only sink their heads low, leaving King Nicholas to be in charge.

"My son is not your typical prince, Your Majesty," King Nicholas says after a long silence with a warm smile plastered on his face. "He likes to have fun. He is childish and surrounds himself with kids most of the time. He barely listens to me. He is a nuisance. He blurts things out without processing them first. He breaks rules instead of following them,"

"_But_, he is _also_ your future _husband_, Queen Elsa." Elsa's lips parts open at the king's sudden spout, even Kai and Count Gregory are left speechless. "Despite all of his muddled behaviors, I managed to cope with him and so would you." King Nicholas smiles and lands his giant hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I know you will because once you get to know the _real him _you will learn to love him as much as his mother and I do." Elsa purses her lips and just stares at the old man's gigantic round eyes—how they flash so much _wonder_. "I wish you the best of luck, _dear daughter-in-law_." He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze before he bows respectfully. "If you may excuse me, Your Majesty, I need to speak to the council for further arrangements." He dismisses himself and brings Count Gregory along with him as Kai excuses himself, too, to prepare the opening ceremony, leaving Elsa with her mixed up emotions.

* * *

Jack licks the remaining frostings on his fingers and wipes his hand clean with a wet brown napkin.

He saw a servant who was—still in his teens—struggling while frosting the cake at the courtyard right before he went inside the castle. The cake was already filled with beautiful flower-shaped icings, but the design was a little too simple compared to the other cakes. Judging from his reluctant moves, Jack concluded the boy wasn't used to what he was doing. Jack also thought perhaps his female relative—who would probably a servant as well—had asked for his help to put the icing on the cake since she had something more important to take care of. It made sense though. Usually, male servants are in charge of carrying stuff, and females are the ones up for cooking.

As much as it entertained him watching the poor lad with his knitted eyebrows and twitched lips, he walked to the lad and saved him from distress. Of course, the boy would jerk at the sight of a really dashing royal offering him a hand to assist him frosting a four-layered cake. Jack only chuckled at the lad's hilarious facial expression. The boy, too stunned to do anything, only nodded and handed the prince the piping bag. Prince Jackson had been used to baking since it was one of his daily activities with his mother and sister. Therefore, Jack effortlessly proceeded with his frosting talent. The boy only watched him in admiration as Jack carefully put the icings on the lowest layer of the cake. The shapes of a simple sunflower came out beautifully from the fluid movements of Jack's pale hands. Jack glanced up at the boy with a smile on his face.

"You know what? This is your job, not mine." Jack straightened himself and faced the boy. He could see the boy tensed at his words. "So, _you _are the one who needs to _do_ it." Jack handed the piping bag back to the boy. "_But_, since you're not _really _mastering the job," Jack chuckled and lifted another piping bag from the table. "I'll give you some tricks." The boy flushed a bit and nodded.

"I was once like you—_far much worse_, actually." Jack laughed and lifted his other hand as he positioned it right under the piping bag. "Then my sister taught me the starters. Follow my lead." The boy copied the young prince's action and watched him in amusement. "You have your fingers and your nails. If you want to practice making a straight-line frosting, try to trace the piping bag on your fingers...following the shape of your finger." Jack pressed the bag as the icing went from his knuckle to his pointer finger as it almost reached his nail. The boy tried the same method and spontaneously laughed at his success on his second try, the icing formed a straight line just like his middle fighter. Jack smiled down at him. "That's surprisingly nice, pal. Now, if you want to practice forming tiny balls, try creating a solid one on your nails without having the icing overflowing your skin." The boy nodded eagerly and applied the instructions on his left hand.

"I did it!" The boy surprisingly let out his squeaky voice for the first time with a wide smile carved on his face. Jack nodded proudly seeing five straight lines and five tiny ball shapes of icings which were covering the boy's fingers.

"Congratulations, dear apprentice, you succeeded the first task," Jack smirked. The boy nodded excitedly at the royal prince, getting more and more ease at Jack's warm presence. "Final step. You have the back of your hand clean." The boy nodded and wiped some icing that went to the back of his hand. "That makes it a blank canvas. Try to make anything from the combinations of straight lines and tiny balls. I will make a sun and you will think of something else." Jack proceeded with his action as the boy quickly pictured the image he was going to draw with the icing. Jack was done with his tiny sun as he glanced at the boy. "You made a tiny snowman! That's awesome!" Jack cheered, scraping a really wide grin on the boy's face. "Now if you look at the flowers on the cake, they're only a group of six tiny balls—five circling one—with a straight line connecting one flower to another. All the basics you've mastered. Try it on the blank canvas." The boy nodded and drew the flowers on his hand. The first three samples were a little messy, but the fourth one looked definitely like the ones glued on the cake—the one Jack had previously created.

"You're actually good! I don't get it why you need to struggle to do this earlier," The boy smiled genuinely and humbly bowed at the compliment. "Use this trick every time you feel like you're struggling while putting the icing. It has a bonus, too." Jack licked the icings on his hand. The boy was shocked at first upon witnessing a royalty in such a bold manner. "You can also practice making bigger balls and curvy lines on your own—it goes naturally once you've mastered the tiny and straight ones." The boy smiled and followed the behavior before grabbing the clean napkin he brought from the kitchen, damping it to the bowl of water, and rinsing it a bit. He slightly bowed and handed the napkin to the prince. Jack gladly accepted. "Now, try to make flowers on that cake." The boy obliged and returned to his prior activity.

Jack is too busy watching the boy who is now smiling while working on his job. The young prince isn't aware he is being watched by almost every working servant in the yard. He is clueless that he is the only royalty left outside.

"Excuse me, my lord." Jack turns around and finds a beautiful pair of icy blue eyes staring at his.

_In front of him stands the most beautiful woman he has ever laid his eyes upon._

She wears a huge brown cloak with a hood partly covering her blonde hair. He can't really name other things attached to her body because she's completely covered by the large cloak. Her pretty face, gleaming eyes, rosy cheeks, light freckles, and red lips are the only ones who shine under the orange sky.

"Good evening, my lord."

He thought her complexion was the most pleasurable thing to see, but then her voice was enough to hypnotize him with its austerity and, yet, tenderness.

Jack's mouth part open as he tries _so hard_ to drive his eyes downward, not staring at the woman like a predator or some sort. The poor prince is not used to _female interactions_. Aside from always skipping any ball or any kind of royal events held inside the castle and refusing to go to the ones held by the other kingdoms, Jack had always kept a _distance_ from _females_. Most of those creatures pretty much had bugged his years of living from batting their eyes at him to purposely nudging his body parts. He never showed his disgust though, he just simply withdrew as a defense mechanism.

_But, this one particular woman draws him like a magnet._

"I've never seen you around before, my lord. Without any means to be disrespectful, I was wondering where did you come from?" The woman smiles warmly at him as her deadly stunning eyes spark in interest. Jack's still too stricken to do anything. "Forgive me for being impudent, my lord. The citizens of Arendelle have always been so easily intrigued by novel things. As for myself, I cannot help my curiosity."

Jack unties his tangled tongue and absentmindedly forms a few words as a response. He doesn't need to follow Emma's _How to Behave in Front of a Lady_ guidelines now that he's only talking to a mere citizen who just happens to possess the most _beautiful _sight to see.

"My apologies, my lady. I was rather surprised at your sudden approach. I arrived here yesterday morning from the Northern Isles." His confidence slowly grows as he stretches out his clean hand. He shyly smiles as he ducks his head a bit. "You can call me Jackson. If I may ask, what is your name?"

The woman's eyes widen a bit. Her eyes flicker back and forth between his face and his open palm. Jack can see she loses her focus for a brief second before regaining her composure.

Before the woman could ever utter a reply, the boy who previously struggled with cake icings gasps and swiftly bows at the woman.

"_Your Majesty!_ I didn't see you right there."

Jack freezes as the word _Your Majesty_ rolls out smoothly from the boy's mouth.

_Wait._

_What?_

The woman chuckles and gives a small nod at the young servant. "I guess it's time to stop playing around." She mumbles loud enough for Jack to hear. She slowly lowers her hood, revealing her platinum blond streaks neatly seated in a majestic braid.

The woman shoots him a smile before accepting Jack's hand and shaking it. Jack is too occupied staring at her angelic face and not realizing the cold sensation as soon as their pale skins came in contact.

"_Elsa of Arendelle._ It is a pleasure to have finally met you, _Jackson_."

Returning to his senses and realizing the breathtaking woman standing in front of him this very moment is his _future wife_, Jack's wig snatched.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**WHOOP THERE Y'ALL HAVE IT: _A JELSA MEETING_. This chapter makes me smile like an idiot. I love my babies being sweet to each other. I hope you all love this chapter as much as I do!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Count Gregory, the Count of the Northern Isles, is my original character  
****\- The kingdom of Zaria is canon from '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**'**

**Oh my God, thank you so much for your reviews, follows, and favorites! I can't thank you all enough for your support! Thank you so much for reading this story even though everything I write here is super spontaneous and I'm horrible in English. I hope I can update sooner next time! Bet y'all can wait for an actual Jelsa conversation, right? See you later for now!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	9. Chapter 8

_**Jittery**_

* * *

**Elsa walked around. **The moment Count Gregory gave away the _white hair_ clue, finding Prince Jackson amongst a crowd of thousands appeared to be an effortless task. As soon as Elsa made herself sure there was no white hair—who was _not_ an elder inside the ballroom—she walked outside to the castle yard.

There would be a second celebration held in the beautiful yard in which the queen and the princess would be commemorating the day with their citizens. Elsa had previously undone all of her icy decorations because the council advocated having the queen's winter ability as a surprise show for the foreign guests. Elsa couldn't wait to witness the smiley faces of her beloved citizens once again. Hopefully, the royalties and dignitaries from the other kingdoms would share the same adoration as well. She was soon greeted by the guards at the front door and a couple of servants. It took her only five seconds to find him out there.

There she saw the third line to the Northern Isles throne with his royal blue outfit—_her future husband_—who was busily chatting with one of the youngest servants in the castle. Dima was the boy's name, a dear nephew to Gerda. Dima has always been very shy and clumsy, but Elsa has admired him for his sense of music. Even though the boy is _practically _not really good at anything, he can serenade any girl with his piano skill.

She hadn't been able to see the prince's face since his back was facing her. She shot him an irked look. She was busy inside yet there he was—_fooling around_ with a _piping bag_. Elsa was ready to confront him, but his deep voice stopped her steps.

"I was once like you—_far much worse_, actually, but then my sister taught me the starters. Follow my lead."

_Follow my lead?_

_Is he teaching Dima how to put an icing on a cake?_

Her anger vanished as soon as she heard the prince's laughter. She grew curious instead, and she decided to spy on the two, but then she figured she needed a cover.

"Good evening, Your Majesty," A servant with a large cloak greeted her as he pushed a wagon filled with white roses.

"Good evening," Elsa replied then directed at his cloak. "May I borrow your cloak just for a moment?"

"Of course, you may, Your Majesty." The man quickly took off his cloak and gave it to his queen. "I must apologize, though, if—at some point—it releases an improper scent." Elsa chuckled as the man helped his queen to wear the outer.

"Don't worry, it smells like roses." Elsa smiled as the man bowed gratefully and excused himself. Elsa's attention returned to the two males with each of their piping bags.

"You have your fingers and your nails. If you want to practice making a straight-line frosting, try to trace the piping bag on your fingers..." Everything she had wanted to lash out on him vanished just like _that_. She admired the gentleness of his voice and the way he carried himself around the boy. It was Elsa's first time witnessing a _royal prince_ like _him _was _kind enough_ to give directions to a _servant boy_.

_My son is not your typical prince, Your Majesty._

King Nicholas's words swam back to her head. This prince _really _wasn't like any royalty she had ever seen. She had faced many men for the past three years. Most of them were arrogant and only cared about themselves—plus their title and wealth. Many would knock on her door and then ask for her hand in marriage just because she was the queen who is, in fact, a powerful kind with such prosperous kingdom and the power of the winter itself. Of course, she would rebuff them all and send them back to where they belong.

_But, this one peculiar man drew her like a magnet._

Just like his father had said, he was _nothing_ like those men. He could just storm inside the ballroom with his pride, disdainfully lifting his chin up and feeling proud of the image of being the future king, _yet_ he preferred to linger around the courtyard—with all of its unfinished decorations and noisy servants—to selfishly guide a _poor lad _who didn't know how to put an _icing_ on a _cake_.

Elsa couldn't hold back her smile upon his generosity. She decided to walk closer and take a look at his face—still in her disguise. She would like to explore this sight of him. She would want him to address her without her title as queen, just as _Elsa_.

"Excuse me, my lord." He turned and Elsa was truly amazed once again.

He was handsome. His eyes pictured the depth of the ocean and they sparked as the crystals. His snow-white hair was unkempt yet smoothed at the right parts. "Good evening, my lord." Elsa smiled and curtsied. However, the young prince didn't express any change of emotion from his seemingly shocked face. Elsa waited for a few seconds before uttering another sentence.

"I've never seen you around before, my lord. Without any means to be disrespectful, I was wondering where did you come from?" She continued the conversation yet the prince still remained in silence. "Forgive me for being impudent, my lord. The citizens of Arendelle have always been so easily intrigued by novel things. As for myself, I cannot help my curiosity." She let out a louder voice as the prince snapped back into reality.

"My apologies, my lady. I was rather surprised at your sudden approach." The prince bashfully titled his head down but not moving his gaze away from her. "I arrived here yesterday morning from the Northern Isles. You can call me Jackson."

He _is_ him.

The smile grew wider on her lips, but what he did next caught her off guard.

"If I may ask, what is your name?"

He _asked_ for her _name_ and _offered_ her a _handshake_. She briefly shifted her eyes to her appearance—legitimately making sure her gown was still perfectly covered by the cloak—and back to his open palm. She then returned to his eyes. Most men she had encountered would refuse to even _look_ at the lower castes, but this prince didn't even think twice to go for skin contact. He even threw away his title.

She smiled and was about to return the gesture.

"_Your Majesty!_ I didn't see you right there."

Elsa bit the insides of her cheeks and smiled weakly at Dima who was smiling widely while showing off his teeth. She looked back at the prince with his eyes resembling utter shock, though his hand remained the way it was.

"I guess it's time to stop playing around." She flashed him a small grin and enveloped her hand in his. An odd sensation tickled her bones, but she was too occupied with Jackson's hilarious face.

"_Elsa of Arendelle._ It is a pleasure to have finally met you, _Jackson._" Elsa shook his hand and later pulled her hand back.

* * *

_Shit. I should've followed Emma's guidelines._

Jack bites his lip and quickly looks down at his shoes. He can feel the warmth on his cheeks slowly making its appearance and refuses to look at the queen with his bashful state. Well, in _any_ state actually. She is _royalty_ and he is not used to engaging any conversation with one. Also, the fact that she is a tremendously gorgeous one doesn't make it any better.

Far much worse_, she is his future wife._

And he offered his tremendously gorgeous future wife a _handshake_.

Emma would make him suffer for the whole week.

Jack takes a deep breath and gathers all his guts to end the killing silence.

"Y—Your Majesty, I—"

"_Your Majesty and Your Highness!"_ A voice yells as whoever the owner runs to the couple's direction. Jack closes his mouth shut as Elsa's attention fully darts to the source of the voice. "Thank _goodness!_ The ball shall start soon. _Oh! _Prince Jackson, my name is Kai and I am the queen's advisor. I am sorry for the rushed introduction, but we _must _hurry."

"Thank you, Kai." Elsa smiles and turns around to face the prince. "Let me escort you inside, my lord." Jack awkwardly nods. Stuffing his hands inside his pocket while biting his own tongue, he follows the queen and her advisor. They stop for a minute when the queen has to return the cloak to one of the people in the yard, revealing her majestic ivory blue gown. She looks even more beautiful with a fancy dress on.

_Great. She disguised herself because she wanted to put a test on me._

Jack mentally groans and hangs his head low, diverting his gaze away from Elsa who is now engaged in a serious conversation with Kai.

Whatever that test was, he _surely_ had _failed_.

* * *

"There you are, Jack!" Jack lifts his chin up and spots his father who's making his way towards his son. "I have been looking for you everywhere." King Nicholas gives out a loud sigh before stopping a foot away from his son.

"Well, fun fact, the Queen had found me first." Jack laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck.

"_You _have met _your wife?_"King Nicholas beams and proudly pats Jack's shoulder. He was _actually _going to scold him for a few minutes, but the news is too interesting to be pended.

"Not _yet_."

"Right, _yet_." King Nicholas gets more and more excited. "How was it?"

"You _don't_ wanna know, Dad."

"Well if I did not, I would not bother to ask."

Jack sighs and stares at Queen Elsa who's currently bickering with a strawberry blonde-haired woman. "It was awkward and I messed up big time."

King Nicholas raises his eyebrow and follows Jack's gaze. "I need more details than that, Jack."

"She was wearing a huge cloak, borrowed it from a man outside, and catching me playing around a piping bag with a servant boy." Jack finishes his sentence with a huff and tears his eyes from the queen. "Out of _nervousness _and Her Majesty in _disguise_, I asked for a handshake and_ not_ the proper hand-kissing royal stuff."

King Nicholas chuckles at his son's troubled state and squeezes his shoulder comfortingly. "Well, I guess it hasn't been fully your fault since I never taught you the proper way to greet a lady, especially as gracious as your _not yet _wife." He continues to amuse himself over his son's funny story. "You did not know it was her the first place. I think that was pretty understandable."

"Emma gave me a book about it so it _is_ my fault." Jack regrets his prior decision to explore the yard rather than absorbing the methods inside that damn book.

King Nicholas looks down at his son and smugly grins. "This is the first time I ever witnessed your jittery side." Jack looks up to the giant old man. "I just know you actually have that side."

"Everyone has that side. Thank you for stating the obvious."

"Well it's such a shocking discovery that this rare side of yours comes out," King Nicholas smirks and looks forward. "—after you met one particular woman."

Jack blushes at the moment his father finishes his sentence and Kai announces the queen's entrance at the throne, followed by an eruption of applause from the guests. A few words from the queen are expected before the guests can taste the main dishes, though they are allowed to taste all the sweets around the ballroom.

Everyone cheers as he stares. He admires her elegance, simply from the way she carries herself like a true queen she was born to be.

"Welcome to Arendelle, my honorable guests. It is my greatest pleasure to have your attendance this joyful evening." Elsa speaks, loud and clear, as her eyes move from right to left, showing her gratitude to everyone who is present at the ball. "Arendelle was once a small kingdom, hidden somewhere in the Arenfjord. Through all those years, Arendelle learned from my ancestors' triumphs and mistakes as it continued to fight for a better reign." Elsa stops for a moment before smiling widely at her audience. "Now, here it stands, with the smile and laughter from its people. There was no way Arendelle could manage to grow so much only within a couple of years without the amount of kindness you all have shared until this very day." The crowd awes at the queen's humble words. "Tonight's celebration goes to _all of you_. Arendelle thanks to _you_. Without any further ado, let us all enjoy the festival!" The crowd roars and the bell rings once again. They begin to go after the main dishes and some guests remain at their positions as they await their turns to have a conversation with the queen.

King Nicholas hums happily and returns to his son. "Since the first meeting ended up very badly, make the most of it on the second one." Jack looks back at his father and nods gratefully, taking in his advice. "Now, I shall hunt for some meat for this belly." Jack chuckles and lands his eyes on the queen once again. She's beautiful. He wonders if this is just a dream, a wonderful fantasy his mind toyed him with.

_Well, a dream indeed. This is too good to be true._

"I know my sister is an _angel _but, _nope_, you're totally awake, Your Highness." Jack looks down at the familiar giddy face and the familiar strawberry blonde hair. His eyes widen in surprise as he recalls the memories from a few days ago.

"You're that hooded lady from the harbor." He pauses. "Wait, you were also talking to the queen—" He pauses again.

_Sister?_

He finally connects the dots. "_You_ are the princess?" Anna laughs at the prince's priceless face and playfully curtsies.

"I thought it was obvious?" Anna grins wickedly and puts her hands on her hips.

Jack silently agrees with her statement. "Why didn't you tell me back then?"

"I wasn't allowed to go to the harbor at that time. You know the councils keep both of your identities a secret to each other which affects everyone in the kingdom also. So, _yeah_, I can't spill my real identity to you." The princess replies and shoots him a look. "Well, that's nothing important compared to _your_ own secret though." Anna snickers as Jack glares at her.

"I told you to keep that to yourself."

"I did—uh..._sort of_."

"You told _someone else?_" Jack slaps his forehead.

"_Only_ my suitor, the kingdom's loyal companion, and the castle's important subject." Anna grins sheepishly and crosses her fingers.

"Those are pretty important people."

"Your secret is safe with us," Anna assures then bites her lower lip. "Well, maybe not for long..."

"_What_—"

"_Oh!_ I haven't introduced myself!" Anna quickly interjects and curtsies, elegantly this time. "Princess Anna of Arendelle, the lovely younger sibling of Queen Elsa of Arendelle who soon will be the most beautiful _wife_ ever." Anna childishly smiles and looks up to Jack who's turning a little red at the mention of her sister.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for such detailed information," Jack smirks and decides to play along. This unique female royalty makes him feel as if he's talking to his sister. "Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Very gentlemanly, Prince Jackson." Anna teasingly compliments and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "I'm sure you'll be able to swipe my sister off her feet."

Jack refuses to tell her he already had a conversation with the queen and also the fact that _she_ was the one to _swipe him_ _off his_ _feet_. He brings out another topic.

"You know what? I had a feeling you had an important role in the castle when you said you were against this marriage." Jack chuckles dryly as Anna hums patiently. "I thought for a second you were the queen's daughter."

"OH MY GOD!" Anna bursts into laughter, stealing the attention of almost everyone surrounding them. Jack keeps his mouth shut and helplessly tries to keep his cool. "_Oh my God_, I like you already! I bless you as my brother-in-law." Anna's laughter starts to die down as she puts a really large smile. "Don't tell me you're one of those people who think that queens are always _old?_"

"Not really," Jack suddenly remembers Thiana and the kid from the yard. He growls and notes himself to plan a prank on Thiana later. "My sister-in-law lied to me by specifically saying that the queen was 35 years old last time they met." Anna snorts and shakes her head amusingly. "I also met a kid outside who told me the queen has been reigning for twelve years."

"God, you must've been upset all this time. I'm so sorry for you." Anna continues to laugh at his poor state then straightens herself. "Putting aside all that false information, now you're feeling quite the luckiest man in the world, right?" Anna teases him as she directs her eyes at the queen who's too busy talking to some dignitaries.

Jack smiles at his future wife and shrugs. "Well, I don't know much about her, but she looks lovely."

"So, when are you going to talk to her?" Anna jumps excitedly and elbows his arm. "You do remember this whole thing is _actually_ for your engagement, right?"

Jack beams and returns to look at the strawberry blonde. "I would hate myself to disappoint her. Is there anything you'd want to share so I wouldn't make a mess of myself?"

"_Oh!_ You just found the _right_ person to provide the answers!"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILIES! This busy girl finally had the time to update! The week was exhausting tbh and I had very limited time to myself bc I'm still in the middle of my midterm tests...by anywaysies, I hope you like the chapter!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Dima, Gerda's nephew, is my original character**

**I can't wait for you all to read the next chapter where the real Jelsa convo begins! Thank you for the many follows, favs, and reviews! There are sO many of them I hardly believe they are all real, thank you so much for your love! I'll see you on the next chap~**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	10. Chapter 9

_**Not a King**_

* * *

**He got this.**

Jack fidgets with his fingers while waiting for the maid to renew the chocolate mousse; the party has been going for roughly two hours now. The guests have seemed to eliminate almost every kind of dessert served on the table. Female guests have asked him to the dance floor too many times, but he has politely skipped the offer. It's not like he doesn't dance—hell, he _does _dance and is actually extremely good at it. But that's not his main focus right now.

The prince steals quick glances at Elsa who's still talking to some dignitaries. He wonders if she will ever get bored of those formal talks.

"The mousse is ready, my lord." The maid returns and bows respectfully at the prince as she extends her arms to give him two cups of chocolate mousse.

"Thank you." Jack smiles, accepts his order, and makes his way to where Elsa stands. He can see the long queue of guests who wishes to talk to the queen is no longer there. He patiently waits for Elsa to end whatever she and those two royalties are discussing as he recollects his earlier conversation with the princess.

* * *

_"My sister loves chocolate," Anna informed as they walked through the tables of dishes. "She will eat anything that's chocolate. A trait I passed her."_

_"Didn't you mean the other way around?" Jack chuckled and offered her a tissue to wipe all of that chocolate all over her mouth. "She's the older sister."_

_"She used to savor vanilla a lot!" Anna accepted the tissue gratefully and cleaned herself. "It's a boring flavor."_

_"Watch out for that, my lady," Jack replied smugly. "I am a lover for vanilla as well. You wouldn't want to mock such fine flavor in front of me."_

_"Oh my God, you two are really destined to be."_

_Jack snorted at the strawberry blonde's quick answer. "Just because we love vanilla?"_

_"Also because of your ice powers." Jack narrowed his eyes at her. Anna noticed his silence as she looked up to him, identifying the confusion in his eyes. She mentally gasped. "You don't know?" She stops from her tracks and fully faces him. Jack follows and becomes even more perplexed._

_"Know what?" Jack plainly shrugged._

_"What do you know about my sister?"_

_Jack felt a little uncomfortable at the drastic change in Anna's mood. She was all chocolate and marriage crazy, but then she turned weirdly serious. "Things the council told me. The queen is the current ruler of Arendelle, the cool kingdom with cool economic development, unique commodity, and also its trading partners—"_

_"That's what you know about our kingdom. Anything about my sister?"_

_"The fact that she's a great queen?" Jack awkwardly smiled. "She's a female and my soon-to-be bride."_

_Anna shrieked. "So, you don't know anything else?" Jack shook his head. Anna kept her blabbering shut for a while which made Jack feel uneasy with his answers._

_"YOU DON'T KNOW!" Then she squealed_—_so loud that almost every guest in the ballroom glanced dubiously at them. "You guys are going to surprise each other! THAT'S SO ROMANTIC! I can see it all in my head!"_

_"You're being really suspicious, Anna," Jack massaged his temples and flashed an apologetic smile to the guests near them._

_"I have to tell Kristoff!" Anna jumped a little and grinned from ear to ear. "I'll see you later!" She stormed out of sight just like that._

* * *

As a result, the only thing Jack knows about his future queen is only _her love for chocolate_. Her sister has proven herself to be a _not_ reliable source of information. Well, discovering one of Elsa's likings is better than nothing. It actually helps him to relax, knowing that he has something that will deliver her joy and _not _bring him to further embarrassment.

Jack _almost_ drops the cups once Elsa's eyes flickered to his. The queen gives him a faint smile as she dismisses herself from the conversation with the two royal men. Jack braces himself and watches the lovely maiden who's slowly walking towards him with a warm smile arched on her lips. He immediately snaps out of it. He's not going to make a fool of himself for the second time.

"Your Majesty," He speaks as lithe as he can be. The next step is to bow, but then he realizes both of his hands are occupied with the desserts.

He _cannot_ properly bow in this state.

_Crap._

_What should I do now?_

_Effing curtsey?_

"I—I would bow, but—"

_Goddamn it, Jack!_

_You do NOT say that!_

_Oh. My._

"I—I mean—because—I have..._What _I _mean _is that I bring you a chocolate mousse."

_For fuck's sake._

_I'm screwed._

Fortunately to his poor and unfortunate soul, Elsa only giggles at his stutter and gratefully takes the chocolate mousse from his right hand.

"Thank you. You're too kind." She smiles and takes a spoonful to her mouth. Her eyes light up as the chocolate melts inside her mouth. "You should try it, too."

Jack gives her a sheepish smile and consumes the dessert. Jack looks up several times and gets lost in how happy the queen is while savoring her chocolate mousse. He learns how she stares at the chocolate mousse in devotion and eats the dessert very slowly to make the sensation last longer. Jack quickly averts his gaze away when he feels the signs of her lifting eyes to meet his.

"I believe now is the perfect time to discuss our engagement," Elsa's smile fades a little. Jack can feel his heart twitching as he only copes with a stiff nod. "It's a little too loud in here. Can we go somewhere else private?" Jack manages to gulp. They both give away their empty glasses to one of the servants and make their way to the exit. The queen briefly speaks to her guards about her short dismissal. She then leads him to the balcony—which is only a few doors away from the ballroom—with a clear view to Arendelle. Jack's never tired of how beautiful Arendelle is.

* * *

"Is here okay with you, Your Highness?" Elsa smiles reassuringly as she inches herself closer to the balcony and rests her body on the banister. Jack only nods and stands as far as he can be without offending the queen with their distance. He places his elbows on the banister and appreciates the wind for such a comforting air. "I noticed you were far from being comfortable inside. I thought the calm breeze would help you relax." Elsa looks at the starry sky and smiles as the wind slips through her hair and plays with it.

Jack is touched with her concern, but he also feels bad because his uneasiness is not caused by the crowd in the ballroom; it's as if he's lying to her when she's already kind enough to take him here. He then takes a deep breath and slowly steps closer to her, stopping only three feet away. Elsa glances at him and is startled by his sudden movement. She pulls herself away from the balcony and faces him directly, just like how he does to her.

"First of all, I apologize if this is going to sound odd, Your Majesty, but I can't help myself." He speaks, much clearer than all of his prior sentences.

_Alright. There is no turning back._

"I wasn't bothered by the crowd, in fact, I was itched by my own self for being such a bonehead to you during our first encounter." Jack inhales deeply as he detects cluelessness in all over Elsa's face. He decides to just blurt everything out.

He's not going to blame her if she backs away from the marriage after this.

"Every queen deserves a king. One such as _yourself _deserves the _best one_. I am certainly _not_ that king. I didn't address you by your rightful title back then—it was close enough to disrespect you; I even forgot to introduce myself with my real identity. I offered you a handshake; proper gentlemen would plant a kiss on the back of your hand to show their honor upon having your presence. I stuttered way too much and my words didn't make sense to you. I really tried to approach you the right way—to look at you in the eyes to show you my regard but I would always make things worse. Your kindness even drives me to hate myself more from the way I carry myself. I know I've been a nuisance to you; therefore, please accept my uttermost forgiveness, Your Majesty, for everything I've done and for every moment after."

Jack takes a deep breath and absorbs all the air his lungs had missed due to his confession. Eyes never leaving her gaze, his heart thumps as he waits for Elsa's response.

He's ready to get kicked out soon.

"_Elsa_." The queen finally says something with that soothing voice of hers.

_Huh?_

_Okay...We all definitely know that._

Jack gulps. "Pardon, Your Majesty?"

"I told you to call me _Elsa_, didn't I?" She smiles.

_She effing smiles._

"Y—yes, you did." Jack mentally smacks himself for stammering again. Well, who wouldn't? He's practically standing three damn feet away from possibly the most sophisticated queen in the world. How in the world a man like him could handle his own heart?

"If you remember correctly, _I _was the one who chose _not _to display myself as queen. I saw you with one of my servants and how normal you conversed with him. I figured I would want that _normality_, too." Elsa exhales and looks down at her people. "Many men have tried to ask for my hand in marriage. You said everything about them very clearly yourself."

"Of course, they would never forget to mention my rank as a queen because that was the _only thing_ they _ever_ cared about. My husband would have the right to overpower Arendelle. Dominance is all those determined gentlemen ever wanted." Her words come out bitterly as her eyes picture her sadness. "But _you?_" Elsa turns back to him as her eyes change atmospheres. "You helped a _servant_. I've never seen those gentlemen giving out even a single affection to the people who serve them. I decided to put up a disguise because it was intriguing to watch a royal prince helping a servant with his work. You made me very happy with the way you addressed a _curious _village girl with so much _respect_. You even erased your title because you knew it would cause her discomfort because of the status gap. You made me feel even more important than those gentlemen who bowed before me. You also showed me handshake feels so much more... sincere than kisses on hands...It felt like a pleasant friendship but still in the respectful borders— perhaps only for me since I'm not fond of being touched." She smiles and takes one step closer.

"I am thankful for your stutters. The men who would want me as their wife would probably prepare the whole speech and ready their ways of speaking to talk to me. Your stutters were enough to tell me everything you said comes directly from your heart, _not _hours and hours of practice. I am also glad that you chose to look at my eyes shortly then quickly drive your gaze away. I do believe it is your way to respect me. Men would take the opportunity to look at somewhere else _other_ than my eyes." Elsa chuckles weakly and flashes him a bright smile.

"And for the record, you don't need to apologize for the things I'm utterly grateful for."

_Jack has his mouth open all this time and then he realizes he really needs to close it, now._

His heart is thundering after hearing all the things she had said. She is _so beautiful _inside, out, and in between. She is so beautiful Jack doesn't have the words to describe the angel without wings before him.

"_Jack_." He whispers, so quiet and so timid, as he also takes another step forward while looking down at his shoes. "I told you to call me Jackson, but that's how everyone else said my name in the Northern Isles...Only my friends, my family, and those who are close to me who call me Jack." He blushes and collects his courage to look at her on the eye once again. "It would mean so much to me if you call me Jack." He smiles as the queen reacts with the same smile.

"Alright, _Jack_." She giggles upon the first time saying his name. "I would appreciate it if you called me Elsa as well." Her cute expression changes her features to look much younger which triggers the heat on his cheeks.

"Of course, Your—uh—_Elsa_." His cheeks turn red and the soft laughter coming out of Elsa's mouth is _not_ helping, but then he takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. He feels so much better now—_so much easier_ to behave around her after they have reached the point of understanding.

"We can avoid all kinds of formality if you'd like." Elsa grins. "I believe we're good friends now, Jack. Good friends don't need those titles and proper choice of words."

"_Thank God_." Jack lets out a long breath as he throws his head back. His manners amuse the beautiful queen. "Formal talks make me nervous. I'm sorry you have to see my horrible attempt at trying to act my rank."

Elsa laughs louder than before. That laugh makes Jack smile as well. It's as if she's letting all her emotions go free. "It's quite an entertainment, actually." Elsa giggles as Jack plays along with her tease. His face screams betrayal as his hand clutches the fabric of his suit, right above his heart.

"How could you wound me so, _Your Majesty?_" He snickers with her as they enjoy each other's company more, more, and more.

At first, Elsa is the one who keeps the teasing going. She knows Jack is still feeling odd to their encounter, so she makes sure she presents herself as someone from his environment until she can no longer detect any slight disturbance in him. The method gladly works. Jack acts more natural as time goes by. He starts to show her that he is _nothing _like the stammering guy she had first met. The smooth talker gives a few jokes here and there, seeming to be more at ease. Elsa is surprisingly having so much fun being at his side.

Jack, too, has never been this happy while conversing with a woman. He is happy Elsa laughs louder and giddier than before. Her laugh is almost as refreshing as the breeze of a winter morning.

"Oh, you've met her already?" Elsa smiles as the topic finally reaches to her sister after talking for almost an hour.

"Yeah, she approached me shortly after your opening speech," Jack informs, not breaking his promise to Anna by spilling the beans he had met her _before _that. "It was kinda hard for a foreigner like me to accept the fact you two are _sisters_."

"Oh, I hope you do remember the fact that you have silvery white hair, but your little sister has brown hair, your eldest brother has grey hair, _and _your second older brother has yellow-sand hair." Elsa gives him a look as Jack bursts into laughter once again. Aside from their unique classification of traits, their hair and eye colors were the _only _things Jack has informed her of his family. He has promised to tell her more later.

"You got me." He puts his hands up and smirks down at the pretty lady. "Thus, our oddly random personalities even exceed yours and Anna's opposite ones." Elsa just shares him an amused grin as it quickly averts to an alarming arch once her mind drifted to somewhere outside their pleasant talk.

"We really need to talk about our engagement." Elsa changes the light air as her face darkens. Jack follows her expression and looks back at the door to the ballroom. He can hear the faint music echoing the walls; the guests must be having the time of their lives with that beat.

"Was there any requirement from the council?"

Elsa shakes her head and crosses her arms. "I think we should just simply announce our engagement in front of the guests."

Jack frowns at the idea and leans on the balcony. "Where's the fun in that?" Elsa chuckles and follows his actions, tilting her head to laugh at Jack's adorable pout. One of the reasons why this man intrigued her so much is because of his matching traits with Anna. He's playful and childish. He's a good talker. He brings comfort to everyone with his presence. He makes her laugh every time. "Well, are you ready?"

"Guess so." Jack pushes himself from the balcony and creates a sly smirk on his dashing face. "You?"

"I think so." She exhales deeply and scoots closer to him, though the respective gap is still there. He's ready to escort her back to the ballroom but then something pulls him back.

"Elsa," He whispers, eyes boring into hers and body facing her directly. Elsa holds her breath the moment Jack takes her hands in his. She's not used to the fact that a man is both touching and standing really close to her at this point. Thus, the fact that this goofy man she has learned a few minutes ago is now displaying his—so far—most deadpan face.

_But_, she quickly becomes at ease. Holding his hand feels..._different_ for some unknown reason. It actually warms her heart knowing that this particular man trusts her so much and unusually gets along with her really well. "What is it, Jack?" She smiles reassuringly as soon as she notices a flicker of restlessness in his eyes.

Jack takes a deep breath as he gives Elsa's hands a little squeeze. "You're the easiest female figure to talk to aside from my mother, my baby sister, my sister-in-law, the maids in my castle, and some other female acquaintances I ran into. You've been a great friend to me even though we knew each other only for a few hours." He pauses for a second and takes a deep breath. "I know we are forced into this marriage, but I want to know if you're forced into this friendship as well."

Elsa's a little taken aback by his words. His eyes are begging her to say the words she wants to say, too. "Of course not, Jack." She squeezes back. "I choose to be your friend because I _want _to, _not_ because I_ have_ to."

Jack smiles weakly, gratitude swirling inside his heart. "Thank you, _really_." He laughs a little to ease his nervousness. Her being this close is not the situation he knows how to handle. "Because I don't think I would _ever _forgive myself if you're feeling threatened to do _this_."

"Likewise." Elsa giggles, thanking the God for this moment, for this personality of her future husband, her new _friend_. "I'm okay with this. Trust me."

After a few minutes of exchanging smiles, the pair waltzes inside the ballroom with such a scoop to expose.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**FINALLY! This is my favorite chapter though, I love couples being shy over each other~ I'm a sucker for this kind of content!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**__**\- no necessary details**_

**Your love and support never fail to amaze me, thank you so much for 100+ follows! This lovely chapter is my way of saying thank you to all of you! I can't believe the amount of love this book has...and it makes me really happy it grows every day. You are all so kind, thank you for giving this story a chance! I promise to try my best to work on this story and hopefully I can update faster next time!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	11. Chapter 10

_**Announcement**_

* * *

**Jack swallows his breath **as his gaze lands on the massive crowd. Teeth biting his own tongue and hands gripping the inside his pockets, he pictures the royal guests as _trolls_. _Yes._ For the first time in forever, Jack finally takes one of Aster's advice and turns it into action.

_Pretend your audience as trolls. They are always grumpy, so you don't have to try to impress them._

Even if he doesn't really understand what a _troll _is, he'll just visualize that creature as a rock with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

_It's like picturing potatoes or eggs with a freaking face._

Jack shivers at the thought. Is it even real? He swears he once saw the word _troll _written in one of his father's documents when he pulled a prank in his study_—_

_Focus, Jack!_

The prince shakes his head and returns to his main problem. Jack chants the words inside his head as he stands there patiently, waiting for Elsa who's coordinating things with the council. One single code from his future wife then he has to go up there, to the throne, to bring one hell of a declaration that's going to be in everyone's conversation.

Jack sees Elsa thanking the council as they separate their ways except for Count Gregory and Count Eirik. She and the two gentlemen share a few sentences before they part. Elsa's eyes land on his as she shoots him a smile while walking closer.

"What is it?" Jack asks and examines the two counts who march their way to the throne.

"Count Gregory and Count Eirik will do the opening. They will give us a cue when it's our time. After that, I'll do the ending." Elsa replies. "We will also be exchanging rings. We only need to do as the council says."

Unable to figure out a proper response, Jack awkwardly whistles as he shivers at the thought of slipping the ring to Elsa's finger. He coughs and stirs the topic away. "_So_, I don't take part in this speech?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. Some of the men here are the _gentlemen_ we were talking about. We wouldn't want them to strike at you."

"_Ah._" Jack grins an evil one. "_The gentlemen_."

Elsa giggles for a while before gripping her own hands, setting her gaze downward. Jack, noticing the out of context gesture, scoots closer to her and lowers his head to get a glimpse at her face.

"You okay?"

Elsa looks up and smiles, grateful for Jack's concern at her slight mood change.

_How to make him understand?_

She can't help but think about what happened years ago. In this very ballroom, she was labelled as a _monster_ for the first time because she _froze_ her own _home_. Perhaps, every guest here remembers or_—at least—_knows how she cursed this land and selfishly ran away during the act. She really tried to think of something else once the guests started coming in—thank God Jack helped a lot throughout their pleasant talks—but, now it all comes back.

She is _scared_.

_What if the guests won't be so forgiving like her own citizens?_

_What if her citizens are honestly still scared of her all this time but they act like they don't because she's the reigning queen now?_

_What if Jack—_

"_Elsa,_" Jack whispers as he takes both of Elsa's stuttering hands and holds them so tenderly. Elsa returns to her consciousness and stares at Jack's freaked out face. "God, are you _alright?_ You zoned out for a few minutes and you were shaking. Was something bothering you?" Elsa gives him a smile before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry. I actually have a little stage fright."

"_Stage fright?_" Jack dryly chuckles. "You gave a really good opening speech! I don't think someone with—even _little_—stage fright would have that much control."

Elsa rolls her eyes playfully and squeezes his hands in comfort. For someone who isn't used to being touched, she loves having his hands in hers. Jack is gentle and it gives her the reassurance she needs. "Well, thanks to you, I'm feeling better now."

"You can always count on this dashing Northern man." He grins, earning another laugh from Elsa.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Count Eirik clears his throat before continuing. "The council had greatly prepared for this day. The citizens of Arendelle had worked so hard to welcome all of you, our noble guests from many victorious lands, to this vigorous agenda. Today's occasion is the symbol of our gratitude towards your partnerships," His smile grows wider as he takes a moment of silence to look at all of the guests in the ballroom. "And for our dearest Queen's _engagement_ as well."

Tons of gasps—from happy to surprised ones—elicit from the guests. Elsa's breath hitches as Jack's heart thumps.

"Queen Elsa has reigned fortuitously for three years and Arendelle has blossomed greatly under her delicate mandates, _but_ greater kingdom needs greater help," Count Eirik raises his voice, outdoing the loud chattering of the guests. His eyes briefly land on Count Gregory, signalling him to do his part. "Just as Queen Elsa needs Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles by her side."

With a smile, the Count of the Northern Isles steps forth as the guests grow noisier. Many of them start talking about the crest attached to his suit. "The Northern Isles may not be as big as Arendelle, but it will surely help Arendelle with everything it needs." He pauses as his eyes find King Nicholas who's looking straight into his soul. He clears his throat before he continues. "We promise to always support Arendelle and the other kingdoms who have contributed to Arendelle's victorious accomplishment. We promise to be a good friend to _all_ of you."

"As soon as the rings slipped between the queen's and our youngest prince's fingers, the kingdoms shall unite." He turns to the future couple who stands as pale as ever.

"Let us present you, _Her Majesty, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, _and _His Highness, Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles, the future King Consort!_" Most of the guests cheer happily at the statement, but some proud lords who had asked for Elsa's hand pierce their eyes at the council. Jack clears his throat. They will be shooting daggers at him real soon.

Jack and Elsa simultaneously spin their heads to face each other and smile. "This is it." Jack chuckles and lends his hand. "We're doing this together, alright?"

Elsa laughs for the hundredth time and places her hand atop of his. "Alright." Jack gives her a supportive squeeze before both marches their way upstage.

The cheers ring louder and the glares grow sharper the moment the future rulers of Arendelle arrive at the spotlight. Elsa slips her hand out of Jack's grip as she steps forward, giving the audience her usual regal smile. She spots Anna in the midst of the crowd with her thumbs up along with Kristoff who's smiling at her. She smiles at the two, appreciating the mental support as her nervousness dies a little.

"I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your supportive cheers. I never thought that this moment would come," She gives a sideways glance at Jack. "Before I met Prince Jackson." Jack blushes instantly, such a small gesture does not slip that easily from the observant eyes of the guests.

"Prince Jackson proves himself to be not only an eligible suitor but also a really good _friend_. He is always kind and he makes me feel different..." Elsa sheepishly smiles and her eyes randomly find Anna's. "A _good _different." Anna grins at her. "I believe Prince Jackson will make an excellent king." Elsa glances at him once again, but now her gaze remains. "And, hopefully, a fine husband he destined to be." Tons of awes escape from the ladies as Jack tries so hard not to fly over the roof right now. He still barely believes what is happening right now.

_The most beautiful woman he has ever laid his eyes upon in his entire life is really going to be his wife._

_What is this? A real-life form of the fairy tale he read to Emma before she went to sleep?_

Kai walks closer to the throne with the rings placed on the vermilion cushion. The council kept the rings hidden until this very day for classified information, so the reaction from the couple is pretty priceless. Elsa and Jack stare at the rings in complete adoration. They are pure diamonds. The size is small which makes anyone wonder what sort of magic used to create such precise carvings.

"As the Count of the Northern Isles had mentioned, the rings shall be embedded in their fingers and both kingdoms shall be one." Kai stands between the couple as soon as Count Eirik finishes his sentence. The queen and the future king consort turn their bodies to face each other. Elsa gives Jack an uptight smile and Jack responds with a nervous one.

Count Gregory opens his mouth to start the historic moment but is interrupted with a series of claps from a certain lord which breaks the moment of silence.

"_Marvelous_, Your Majesty!" Elsa's smile fades at the sight of Prince Edvin of Vestfold's smugly grin. He stands there with his auburn slicked-back hair. His green eyes send unfriendly gestures to Jack who is now rising a brow at him. "_Congratulations! _I'd _never_ expected a day this _sacred_ could arrive!" He laughs, stealing the eyes of the audience. Elsa sees how her sister's cracking her knuckles and trying to make her way to give the disrespectful prince a punch or two. Grateful that Kristoff is glancing at her, Elsa quickly gives him a signal to stop Anna from getting into trouble. Kristoff obeys the order as he envelopes his hand around Anna's waist and whispers above her ear while gently placing a kiss to her temple. Anna slowly looks back at Elsa and rolls her eyes as she stands still.

"I remember writing to the stunning Her Majesty in the middle of the spring, hoping that her heart would blossom for me just like _mine_ blossomed for _hers_." Jack's gaze grows sharper as he reads the flow of his sentence. His eyes shift to Elsa to make sure she's alright. He frowns as he can clearly sense her disturbance. "Vestfold has contributed largely to Arendelle's economy, especially wool! We all know wool is one important part in clothing _especially_ for the citizens of Arendelle, but—_ah_, what a _shame_. That is certainly not enough for the _great_ Her Majesty. Her heart refused to blossom for me—and perhaps for all of you, gentlemen, as well!" Edvin claims, erupting a few manly cheers and laughs. "Finally, on this _very_ day, Queen Elsa has _finally _blossomed for _someone_." Edvin teasingly smirks at Jack and the future king consort replies with the same amount of spitefulness. "Let us see if Prince Jackson is worthy of such a _gorgeous _winter flower. Cheers, ladies and gentlemen!" He roars as countless of men support his action.

Jack tries so hard not to turn that prick into an ice cube.

"I was once in your position, my lord." Another voice comes, this one belongs to the second heir of the Trøndelag throne, Prince Halard. "I also participated in oak woods. Tons of them are always shipped by the beginning of the season, but, still, Her Majesty wasn't really interested—or should I say—even paid attention to it." He jokes along, sending another thread to Elsa's heart and another force to Jack's fist. "We hope to see what the Northern Isles has in store to have this much recognition from our beloved queen." He lifts his glass as other men raise theirs as well. "And, lastly, we hope Prince Jackson gives Her Majesty a _good_ _time_."

Jack tries to cool his temper and prevents himself to unleash an avalanche _right _on _their faces_. Those proud gentlemen were the ones who had proposed to her but was rejected and they used their so-called _kindness_ as a bait to pull out the string, to cause Elsa discomfort out of their selfish jealousy. Jack can hear more and more gentlemen brag about their parts in Arendelle's succession and how they deplore the queen's decline to their requests.

Jack's irritation now finally reaches its peak.

_Alright. You jerks ask for this._

"_On behalf of the Northern Isles_, I thank _all_ of _you_, fine _gentlemen_, for the wool, woods, salts—even the golds!" Jack speaks up for the very first time, his voice comes out louder and bittier than he expected. Elsa quickly looks back at him. "I appreciate what you all did for Arendelle and for _Arendelle only._" The room falls to silence as Jack takes two steps forward. "Queen Elsa is a _woman_. A _woman _is to be _respected _and to be _loved_, not to be _exchanged_ by _goods _and it doesn't _matter_ how _much _we can _give_."

"It takes _so _much more than wool, woods, salts, even golds for us to be granted by a woman's heart." Jack looks back at his future wife who's staring at him, too frozen out to even move a muscle. "It takes courage, time, patience, trust, all those qualities—but above of all..._love_." His own words and the amount of sincerity in his words surprise him—Elsa herself included. He breaks eye contact and returns to the audience. "I _certainly_ do _not_ possess all those qualities, but I _tried_. Queen Elsa saw that effort and I'm forevermore thankful she accepted me to be at her side. I believe you all will eventually meet that one person to love once you're _ready _to give _all of you, _and _not_ _all_ _you have_."

Jack grins at Prince Edvin, Prince Halard, and other gentlemen who had dared to interrupt the engagement, eyeing them one by one and sending them his icy cold stares. "Good luck, ladies and gentlemen, on your _journey_ _of_ _love_." He slightly bows as the crowd roars, cheering for the prince. Those proud brats who had previously made a scene all shut their mouths tight as they awkwardly drink their embarrassments away.

"That is my son!" King Nicholas shouts with a large grin painted on his face.

"_That's my brother-in-law!_" Anna screams along, making the poor queen look down shyly. Jack chuckles at the two and steps back to his prior spot. His eyes land on Elsa's once again and that heartwarming smile of hers. He can feel the council and Kai smiling at him as well. The poor prince cannot help but blush as he quickly looks down at the rings.

"These rings shall be a promise of their love," Count Gregory starts again with a smile. The couple's shaky hands slowly reach for the rings as they lift them from the cushion. "And a promise is to keep," He gives Kai the cue as he steps backwards, erasing the gap between the two. Elsa and Jack step closer to each other, eyes still eyeing anywhere but each other. "So does a merge between two beloved kingdoms," Jack slowly looks at her as his smile grows when she's looking and smiling at him, too. "A harmony to be protected." He gently takes her hand and slips the ring into her ring finger. Elsa smiles down at the ring as she returns the same gesture.

"Let Arendelle and Northern Isles unite in the name of love, _now_ and _forever!_" The crowd explodes in joy as they chant over the two newly engaged royalties, but neither Elsa nor Jack pay attention to their surroundings as their eyes remain on the beautiful rings on their intertwined hands.

* * *

"We wish you good fortune, Queen Elsa."

"Thank you, Lady Rani." Elsa smiles gratefully at the dignitary of Tikaani, one of the many Arendelle alliances. Lady Rani once visited the kingdom a few months after the tragedy which set little Anna and Elsa apart. The eastern girl met Anna and was kind enough to give Anna a book filled with tons of adventures in Tikaani. Rani told Anna she didn't want Anna to feel alone. She hoped the princess would be less lonely with hundreds of Tikaani's stories. She also promised to take Anna to visit Tikaani's sandy beaches and fruitful land one day. Elsa remembers precisely how Anna wouldn't shut up talking about Rani, her homeland, and a beautiful headpiece she used to cover her hair. Looking at the dignitary with her own eyes now, Elsa cannot deny the lady's beautiful features—even if she only shows her face and her hands while the rest is covered with her elegant dress. "I heard you were planning to stay long?"

"Ah, yes!" Rani excitedly claims—her cheerful personality reminds her so much of her sister—as she plays with the edge of her scarf which perfectly covers her hair and neck. "I received your letter and thought Anna would like to hear more stories of Tikaani."

"Count me in as well." Elsa grins. Rani's deceased parents were good friends of her parents and the young woman herself was a good friend to Anna, though they only met once in their youth. Rani has always considered a family. "I would love to hear more from your lovely country."

"It'll be my honor." Rani quickly nods.

"Where will you be staying?"

"My assistants have already booked me a room at the Borgbro Inn. They told me they did stumble upon Prince Jackson." Rani smirks and playfully arches her thick brow. "You have earned yourself a fine catch, Your Majesty."

Elsa feels an unfamiliar heat surging to her cheeks. "He said he didn't deserve me, but it's actually me who doesn't deserve him."

"Oh my, you both are _so in love_ with each other! I hope one day I can meet _the one_, too." Elsa's smile tightens with that. "Allow me to excuse myself, Your Majesty. I believe the desserts are waiting for me. Once again, congratulations on the engagement!" Rani giggles and turns to leave, but she takes a brief second to look right at Elsa's eyes. "And your powers are _truly_ _wonderful_."

The queen smiles warmly and watches the beautiful young woman leave. She feels peaceful knowing that Rani and the other guests aren't bothered by her powers nor traumatized by the previous unfortunate disasters during her coronation.

Elsa talks to a few more guests and also the council. Count Eirik, Count Gregory, Treasurer Beret, Judge Terese, Sergeant Jakob, Prime Minister Filip, and Harbor Master Adriaen all congratulate the queen in order. To Elsa's surprise, they all _apologize _to her for this whole arranged marriage. Aside from it's already _all too late_, Elsa is not as much as troubled by the decision as before. She is thankful they give her Jack and the chance to befriend such a sweet person like him. After a few small talks, they excuse themselves and enjoy the party. Elsa's thought saunters to her knight champion. General Marius is only the missing council member who still needs to fulfill his duty in the kingdom of Corona. She knows that her protector will be delighted with the news of her engagement. She had sent him a letter and she cannot wait to hear from him back.

Her eyes eventually land on Prince Edvin, Halard, and the other gentlemen who made a scene earlier. They quickly either look down or look away in shame after the brief eye contact. Elsa smiles at the thought. She is thankful that Jack's message is delivered wide and clear to those gents. She is happy they won't bother her anymore now that she has a fiancé.

The word makes her smile for some reason.

She unconsciously steals a glance at her fiancé who's getting to know Arendelle's trading partners. Elsa tries to hide her giggle as more and more female royalties march their ways to Jack. The Arendelle queen clears her throat, preventing a bunch of women from throwing their claws on him. The female guests quickly step away from the poor prince. The mob wishes the two a happily ever after and dismisses themselves while bickering about God knows what. Jack smiles gratefully at Elsa and moves closer to her. His thankful smile shifts to the opposite as soon as Elsa starts laughing at his previous wretched case.

"You didn't warn me your guests would be _that_ aggressive." Jack huffs and comments about Elsa's royal female acquaintances. Those previous ladies were _really _spontaneous and touchy.

"To be honest, I only held two balls including this one. I never knew how they respond to newcomers." Elsa replies while trying to hide her amusement. Jack rolls his eyes with a smile on his face.

"Anyway, Kai told me I should get ready for the second celebration. What about it? Does it have something to do with the goods in the yard?" Jack's face lights up at the idea of celebrating the day with the citizens. Arendelle is going to be his home, he really needs to get to know everyone who lives in it.

Elsa bites her lip and feels insecure once again. Jack sure has a high likelihood of this one.

_What if her powers scare him away?_

"Elsa?" She gives in to Jack's comforting hold. Her eyes set on their intertwined fingers. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Just nervous." She replies. "You're right. The second celebration is about announcing our engagement to my people and soon-to-be _yours_."

"Then you have nothing to be nervous about, right?" Jack chuckles at her paranoid side again. "When we first met, I saw how Dima and everyone else looked at you. Your people love you that much, Els. You'll do great! It's me who's supposed to be jittering around you know." Elsa laughs at Jack's words and relaxes a bit, considering that she's not worried about her citizens.

"They will love you. I know it." Elsa smiles and circles her arm around his. The small gesture warms his heart as he shoots her a thankful grin.

"Your Majesty and Your Highness," Kai smiles at the two and bows slightly. "The people are entering the gates."

"Is the yard set already?"

"As you requested, Your Majesty." Elsa nods and thanks her godfather. She turns back to Jack and places her other hand on his arm. The fear of being a disappointment comes again, but she shrugs it off this time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the second celebration of the day will begin shortly in the castle yard. Queen Elsa and Prince Jack will announce their engagement in front of the citizens of Arendelle. You are all invited to enjoy the citizens' handmade dishes and merchandise." Kai states loud and clear as the guests enthusiastically walk closer to the door which leads to the castle yard.

"It's time." Elsa whispers with a smile and slowly leads Jack to the door. Jack nods confidently and gives her hand a squeeze as the guards push open the grand door.

A flare-up of cheers and claps detonate from the crowd of citizens as Elsa and Jack make themselves seen. Some loud whispers are also heard from the people questioning the young man standing intimately close to their queen. Jack's getting more and more nervous now. If some of the guests hate him then so be it, but if some of the citizens hate him then he's _screwed_. He straightens himself and puts up the best smile, hoping the small effort sends a pleasant message to the crowd. Despite the nervousness, he's still pretty curious about how dark everything _still _turns out. He forgot to ask Elsa earlier about the limited sources of light.

"Good evening, my beloved people," Elsa smiles happily at her people. They had just finished tidying up the plaza after a busy day welcoming the guests and showering the royalties with their goods from traditional pieces of jewelry to sensational dishes. "I want to thank all of you for working so hard to help Arendelle reach its finest moments. These ladies and gentlemen sailed from their lands just to see the goods you all have made for today and they are so delighted to be standing here enjoying all of your astonishing work." The crowd roars merrier as Elsa turns her eyes up to Jack who's smiling bashfully at the view in front of him. "Today is the day when we celebrate the kingdom's remarkable success, but it is also a gaiety of something _very_ important." The warmth on his cheeks grows as he turns his gaze to the lovely woman beside him.

"Citizens of Arendelle, I present you, my _betrothed_, _Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles!_"

"_Oh my God!_"

"Bless our souls!"

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"

"We're _so_ happy for you!"

"You two make a _great pair!_"

The response is truly heart-warming. Everyone rejoices at the news and grateful smiles are plastered on the people's faces. Elsa finally realizes how much her people have been longing for the presence of a king. She sighs joyfully at the crowd before looking up at her fiancé who's flashing his largest grin. For a moment, everything feels so peculiarly _right_.

"Your Majesty," Elsa turns around and spots her advisor who's nodding his head. Realizing what his gesture meant, Elsa slowly loosens her embrace around Jack's arm. Jack notices the motion as he swiftly looks down at her.

"Something wrong?" He inches closer to her, making sure that she heard him in the middle of the citizens' excitement.

Elsa takes a deep breath and steps away from him. "I have to show you something." She gives him a smile before walking forward.

He never brought up the subject of her possessing the power of ice and snow. She assumed the council hadn't told the Northern Isles about her abilities, which made her glad that the council understands such information should be spoken from herself, but _this_ certainly _was not_ how she imagined telling him her secret.

Elsa glances at the guards who are guiding the guests to gather at the field, some are excited to see what's going to happen next. She bites her lip and hopes she won't push this opportunity away. She takes deep breaths and calms herself as a surge of winter wind assembles from her delicate fingertips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us all enjoy the last commemoration of the day," The queen raises her hands as tiny snowflakes dance around her. The citizens start to make a sound as a couple of guests gasp in awe. "But, _first_, let's get some _lights_." She smiles and thinks about her memories with Anna. How her 9-years-old self was dragged by her sister, how she was persuaded to build Olaf for the first time, how they were dancing in the middle of the falling, sparkling snowflakes, and how much she loved her dearest best friend. She looks up and swings her arms to the sky, absolving a massive ball of snow that explodes into billions of dancing snowflakes as soon as it hits the clouds. The people roar at such sight as Elsa quickly readies her next move. She swings her arms to her sides as a blast of cool wind hits the flowers on the tables, the fountains, _everything_ it could possibly land on, and covers them with shimmering snowflakes. The courtyard is now showered with wintery lights as the audience _all_ clap in bewilderment.

The queen lets out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. She slowly turns around to find her fiancé who's staring at her with his eyes open wide, with the look she can hardly read.

Elsa purses her lips and waits for any slightest response coming out from him. She stands in silence as she prays for whatever it is—_he won't leave her._

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**I'm so happy I can update faster this time! I hope you enjoy this chapter~**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Rani is a daughter of dignitary according to '**_**A Frozen Heart**_**', but the book didn't explain further where she came from, so I made her come from Tikaani, one of Arendelle's alliances according to '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**'  
****\- Prince Edvin and Prince Halard are my original characters; their kingdoms, Vestfold and Trøndelag, are also my original idea  
****\- The council members are all my original characters, except for Harbor Master Adriaen according to '**_**Frozen Adventures Game**_**'**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites, people! Hopefully the next one will have a faster update as well! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	12. Chapter 11

_**A Part of You**_

* * *

**She is beautiful. **So_ beautiful._

The glistening snowflakes are reflected on her icy blue pupils as she shines under the wintery atmosphere. Everyone cheers and he stares—his eyes _never_ leave her. He never would have thought that there is _someone else_ who shares the same _ability_ as _his_. Now, she's standing _right _in front of him.

He thought he was _alone_.

He thought he was the only one who felt _out of place_ all this time.

But now, there's _her_.

Jack just stands there, unable to move even a single muscle. His lips frozen shut and all the words he wants to scream out loud are held back by his suffocating throat. He wants to say many things—_so many things_. He wants to show her how much _this _means to _him_.

How much _she _means to _him_.

"Make the most of your nights, ladies and gentlemen!" Jack has only realized Elsa had been looking at him after she tears her gaze away from him. The woman tightly smiles and sends another icy firework to the sky. She quickly blends herself in the sea of her citizens, answering to everyone's excitement. Jack mentally groans for not being fast enough to reach Elsa.

"That is what Count Gregory was hiding from us," Jack turns around and faces his father. "He mentioned the queen having special conditions, but he never elaborated what those really meant." King Nicholas smiles, his eyes twinkling in wonder. "She's just like you, Jack."

"How come we never know about this?" The question sounds harsher than Jack imagined. "How come we never know about Arendelle, about the queen having _ice _freaking powers? Does our council even know this?"

"I just found out that Queen Elsa's powers are considered as a myth to the world—even to some of Arendelle's trading partners, especially those kingdoms far in the south. Those nobles who have witnessed Elsa's powers have sworn secrecy not to spread the news even larger. The council wants to keep the queen's ability as low as possible. The idea of a magical monarchy is extremely dangerous in the political world. It is a good thing Arendelle is known for its riches, not for its magical ruler." Jack nods. That is true. He doesn't even reveal his powers to anyone except his family and a few other people. "Our kingdom never forms a relationship with Arendelle, so there is no way we can grasp such sacred information." King Nicholas places his hand on Jack's shoulder. " 'Great _power _comes with _responsibility_.' You do remember your mother's words, right?" The prince's eyes soften and slowly nods. "It's not easy to let go of your powers. Wherever you go, there will _always _be a border."

Jack agrees and looks back at Elsa. "But, we _agreed _on this marriage. _I _should know _everything _about my _wife_."

"Well, it won't be fair for you to know her powers but not the opposite?" That is enough to answer Jack. "Besides, the queen herself begged for Count Gregory to let us see her with our own eyes. If anyone is going to find out about her powers, she wanted them to hear it from _herself_." King Nicholas explains. "That is the real purpose of this engagement ball. She wants to show you _herself_."

"How come you know all of this?" Jack asks, something inside his voice shouting betrayal. His father seems to know so much about this.

The king smiles apologetically. "I have not been fully honest with you, my son."

"What do you mean?" Jack doesn't get it and is sick of secrets.

"Greg had informed me about the rundown of the ball before the announcement. He—by accident—revealed Elsa's powers to me. Originally, Elsa was supposed to display her powers right _after _her opening speech and _before _she announced her engagement with you."

"Why?" Jack presses.

"She wanted to give you the chance to back away." That catches Jack off guard. "She didn't want to force a man to be with someone like her."

"There's _no way_ I'm backing away," Jack utters, determined. "I'm _not _going anywhere...not when I finally find her." Smiling, his eyes return to Elsa again.

King Nicholas grins. "I know you won't. That is why I told Greg to change the order of events. She does not need to give you that chance." Jack realizes it now. That's why Elsa and Kai seemed to be having a heated conversation after she caught him with Dima. "I know you won't back away. You need her as much as she needs you."

Jack frowns. That's why she was so nervous. She was scared she would ruin everything they had built.

"How are you going to tell her?" King Nicholas asks and glances at his hands, his frozen fingertips.

"It has to be special." Jack surprises himself with that statement. _That _came out of nowhere. He just had this sudden urge to make her something big, something that she will remember forever that—all this time—she is not alone.

And she won't be alone anymore.

King Nicholas gives his son a firm nod and squeezes his shoulder. "We can talk about this later. I believe you have an audience." Jack turns to a huge crowd of Arendelle's villagers advancing their ways to him.

Then something in Jack snaps.

"_Wait,_" Jack mutters as he looks away from the mob. "Both of us have _ice powers_. We are the _only_ ones like us and suddenly we're tied in a marriage—" Before Jack could ever finish his sentence, King Nicholas disappears from sight.

_That father of his and his belly..._

"_PRINCE JACKSON!_"

_Here it goes..._

"We're _so _happy that you're here!"

"Welcome to Arendelle, Your Highness!"

"Tell us how you met our queen, Prince Jackson!"

"And also how you proposed to her!"

"And how she said _yes!_"

Jack bites his tongue as he bunglingly smiles at the citizens who are circling and bombarding him with questions about the details of his and Elsa's relationship. He has _no idea_ how to plead their curiosities because he and Elsa haven't talked about this matter. They were too busy trading information about each other.

Well, except for the _icy_ part.

Technically, he's at fault, too. He hasn't been honest himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that is the story for another time. I would love to know more about the people I'm going to care for." Luckily, Jack is an expert when it comes to smoothly escape situations he _can't_ or _don't_ want to handle. That sentence sure leads the citizens' admirations towards him and also gives him room to process his mind about their questions, his fake relationship with Elsa, Elsa's ice powers—

_Elsa possessing winter abilities should be on top of the priority list._

And revealing _his own winter ability_ should be on top of his to-do list.

"Excuse me, everyone! May I borrow my future brother-in-law for a moment?" Jack turns around and spots the strawberry blond princess with her sweet smile and—

_Holy frostbites._

_It's a freaking snowman._

_It's a breathing, walking snowman._

_It's totally living._

The citizens respectfully obey Anna's command and send warm regards to the prince. Finally having a clear space, Anna walks closer to Jack and drags Olaf along with her. Jack's eyes still glued on that one of a kind living creature.

"He's Olaf, by the way." Anna rolls her eyes playfully and halts in front of him.

"Good evening, Your Highness." Olaf formally speaks and bows at the perplexed prince as his carrot nose touches the cold ground.

"It is _talking_." Jack gasps and performs an inspection on the strange creature while taking a look at its big, round belly and big, bouncy butt.

_How in the world did Elsa manage to blow a soul into her snow?_

"_It_ is a _he_ and _he_ has a name, _Olaf_." Anna glares at him before giggling. "Wait until I tell Elsa about what you just did, _disrespecting_ her _child_."

"_Child_?"

"Well, yeah. Technically she made him—but, not through the _baby-making _process we know of—just simply by swaying her hands. There's also a couple of mini snowmen she made just by sneezing."

"_What_?"

"There you are! I've been looking all over this crazy crowd for you!" An able-bodied man with dirty blonde hair approaches the princess along with his fuzzy reindeer. "Oh, I'd say it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Prince Jackson. I'm Kristoff, Anna's only suitor, and this is my pet reindeer, Sven." The man offers his right hand as his other arm pulls Sven closer to him.

Jack throws the snowman thought out of his mind and accepts Kristoff's handshake. "The pleasure is mine and, please, just call me Jack. We will be brothers if the odds are in our favor." Jack grins and pulls his arm back.

"Looking forward to that." Kristoff chuckles and makes Anna furiously blush. "It's nice to see you, Jack. Right, Sven?" The reindeer grunts as a symbol of saying 'yes'.

"I guess it's nice to see you, too." Jack nods at Sven who replies with a warm grunt as a gesture to welcome him. Reindeers are nothing new to him. His father is also in love with the animal. "And you, too, little guy." Jack smiles at the snowman who's smiling at him happily.

Olaf interjects. "I believe the term 'little' is no longer suitable for me anymore...I am maturing!"

Anna giggles and says something before Olaf starts talking about his maturity. "We just wanted to say we're happy that Elsa has to marry you out of all people."

"Welcome to the family! I never thought I would be having another parental figure to guide me through the journey of growing up!" Olaf squeals and dances around, moving his twigs arms here and there, causing the group to laugh at his words.

Jack smirks and unconsciously flushes at the thought. He is grateful that he got such a pleasant welcome from Elsa's family. "Never thought I could deserve it either. Thank you." His smile is sincere as he looks at the four one by one.

"You obviously do because Elsa's other candidates are _so_ much _worse_." Anna blurts, sending the group to a series of laughter. "Anyway, why haven't you told Elsa about your powers?" Jack freezes for a moment. Anna raises her eyebrow as she notices Jack's eyes flashing back and forth between her and the other three. Noticing his motion, Anna lets out an awkward chuckle. "I told you I had told them already, right?"

Now he remembers something.

_Only my suitor, the kingdom's royal companion, and the castle's important subject._

"So, the kingdom's royal companion is the _reindeer _and the castle's important subject is the _snowman?_" Jack sighs and massages his temple.

"Well, I'm not lying." Anna innocently shrugs as Kristoff sends the prince an apologetic smile.

"We're sorry for knowing though. However, we didn't and _won't_ say this to anyone." Jack nods at Kristoff and grows a smile after.

"Now that I think about it, it's fine. Not really a huge deal. It's just, in my kingdom, my power has always been a secret—only my family knows about it. It's going to take a while for me to finally share this gift with everyone." Jack bites the inside of his cheeks.

"Highly understandable." Anna shares a pitying look. "You have every reason to act that way. It's not every day you see someone with superpowers. Trust me, I know that. Kristoff knows that. We _all _know that because Elsa was once very much like you."

"Elsa once hid hers, too?" Jack responds immediately. Anna purses her lips and glances at Kristoff who's sharing the same look. Olaf, too, understands the direction of the question and looks up at Sven who's giving him a small grunt.

"It's not my place to tell, Jack, but—yes—her power was once a secret to everyone outside her family. Even _me_." Anna sighs as her head spins towards her sister. "You have no idea how frightened she was when she showed you her powers."

Jack stays silent as his gaze follows to his fiancé. "Did something happen?"

"_Again_, not our place to tell." Kristoff simply replies.

"I think Elsa will tell you herself! It's better to hear a piece of information from the first source's point of view, right Anna?" Olaf continues and looks at Anna for support.

"That's true, Olaf." Anna gives the snowman a grateful smile and returns to Jack. "The thing is, I really want you to show Elsa your powers. One of the reasons why Elsa refused tons of marriage proposals from so many kingdoms is that she's afraid of what her husband would think of her _regarding_ her _powers_. She thought her husband would only want her as an asset to possess greater force for his fleet _or_ he would only see her as nothing but a _monster_." Anna steps closer and holds Jack's hand. "Now, she has _you_. You're neither one of those notions—yet, _favorably_, you're_ just _like_ her_." Anna smiles weakly and grips his hand tightly. "And now you both realize _you're_ _not alone anymore_."

Jack feels something thump inside of him. It's true. All this time he has been asking why he had to be born this way—this _different_ from everyone. His family and the rest of the people who know his ability are never afraid of him and accept him for who he is, but he can't help to still feel _lonely_.

_Now, he doesn't have to be alone anymore._

"You're going to be with her at every step. I just want her to be happy." Anna gives him a final squeeze before pulling her hand back.

Jack quickly takes Anna's hand and holds it gently as his eyes bore into hers. The conversation he had with his father swims back into his mind. "I want her to be happy, too." Jack returns both the smile and the sincerity. "Everything I do is for Elsa to be happy. I promise you."

Anna lets out a gasp of happiness and she blinks her tears away. She moves forward and jumps to Jack's embrace. "Thank you _so_ much." She whispers as Jack lovingly pats her back. He gives in to Anna's warmth as Emma's smile flashes inside his head. The two break their hug and Anna returns to his fiancé who's grinning gratefully at Jack.

"I'll help you shoo that crowd away from Elsa. You two need some _serious_ talk." Anna giggles and points her thumb at the excited mob who's congratulating their queen for her engagement. "Come on, you guys! I need all the help I can get!"

"Right behind you!" Olaf yells happily and Sven rushes over to Anna. Kristoff gives Jack a warm grip on his shoulder and an approving smile before he follows his girlfriend. Olaf stops in front of Jack to give the prince a small bow. "I haven't properly introduced myself to you! Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs! It's nice to finally meet you in person, Prince Jackson!" He smiles broadly and lifts his hand.

Jack laughs and bends his knee to reach Olaf's level. "Hey, Olaf. It's really nice to see a real-life snowman." Jack reaches for his twig hand and gives it a shake. "And call me Jack, please."

"Oh! Your hand feels _nice_." Olaf gasps and uses his other hand to hold Jack's.

"Watch this," Jack smirks and rubs his thumb on the twig, creating frost from Olaf's wrist to the three of his fingertips. The snowman's arm looks similar to his staff now.

"_Holy snow!_" Olaf squeals and lifts his other hand in front of Jack's voice. "Do that on my other arm!" Jack chuckles and fashions another twig. "_Oh!_ That feels _heavenly_. Elsa doesn't really establish that kind of magic. The frost phenomenon that you just did is _remarkable_." Olaf sighs in pleasure and rubs his hands together as snowflakes fall from his hand. "_Wow!_ It's like I have ice powers now!"

"Not really an _ice power_ but more like a small snowflake-summoning skill for a short time."

"I am so _honored_. I will put this temporary ability you have given me into _good _use!" Olaf watches the prince in adoration as he hears Anna's voice from afar. "I wish you could show me more of your tricks but duty calls! Bye, Jack!" Olaf skids away from him and rushes to Anna. Jack puffs his cheeks and jogs to them. Their efforts are meant for him anyway.

"_Excuse me, everyone!_" Anna slips into the crowd—with the help of Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven—as she separates the mass of people from Elsa with a giddy smile. "My sister will answer you all later! Right now, can we please clear some space for the newly engaged couple?" The people let out an exciting gasp as they create a clear way for Jack and Elsa. Both smile at each other before bashfully looking down. "Alright, let's make a room for them and listen to Olaf's storytelling instead!"

"That is right, Anna! I'm going to tell you a very short but _magical _story of how I carry not only this _flurry _of mine but also _snowflakes _now!" Olaf begins as the audience excitedly lands their attention on the snowman. Anna flashes Jack a thumb up before departing from the two.

Elsa hugs herself and steals glimpses at Jack whose eyes are travelling every inch of the frozen fountain near them. He wears a smile on his face though, but—_still_—Elsa doesn't know what's inside his head.

"Ice powers, huh?"

"I tried to tell you, _really_." Elsa quickly replies while she's looking down at her heels. "I just—I couldn't find the right moment. My head was occupied with the ball, our engagement, the guests—I didn't really want to think about my powers that is so—"

"_Beautiful._"

Elsa quits from her jabbering and stares at Jack who's smiling down at her.

"What?"

"Beautiful," Jack repeats, loud and clear, and the smile never fades from his face. "It's _completely_ not something people see on a daily basis _but_ it's absolutely _beautiful_." Elsa weakly smiles as her cheeks redden at his words. "Although, I wonder why wouldn't you tell me sooner—or at least give me a _warning_ beforehand—rather than putting that _goddamn_ icy show back there and leaving my jaw on the ground."

Elsa giggles at his remarks and looks around the courtyard she has transformed. "Let's just say I'm used to people changing their minds the moment they see what I _really_ am." She pauses for a moment and looks at her surroundings. "People are scared of the things they don't know. Some will be terrified of all of this. It doesn't matter whether it's beautiful or not—it's still _sorcery_." She purses her lips and looks down at her hands. "People also crave for _power_. When ambitions get the best of them, they will use sorcery to gain more. People will only see me as a witch to be avoided or a pawn to be used." She dryly chuckles. "That's why at some point I don't really wanna show this side of me..."

"You're so much more than that." Jack gently responds and puts a few strands of her hair behind her ear, making her look at him. "Your power is a part of you, but not _who you are_." He pulls his hand back and touches Elsa's hand. "You have to understand there are some people who don't always look at the parts of you, but _who_ _you_ _really_ _are_ _as_ _a whole_." He keeps her hand in his and softly caresses it. "I promise you, this part of you doesn't change anything from you on the inside."

Elsa smiles in gratitude as she holds his hand tighter. "That means a lot to me." She straightens herself and grins at him. "You're fine just being who you are as well, Prince Jackson."

Jack laughs at her reply, though deep inside he cannot help but feel guilty.

_Soon._ He promised to himself.

Soon, he'll tell her.

And it has to be _special_.

* * *

"King Nicholas has been escorted to his room, Your Majesty. I've sent Howard to deliver His Majesty some appetites."

"Which are?"

"Chocolate cookies, nutcrackers, and a bottle of wine."

"Can you also tell Egil to make him a fruit cake?" Elsa smiles when she recalls how Jack told him stories about his father's obsession with fruit cakes. The servants would always serve him one after dinner. Fruit cakes remind the king of his late wife because Queen Katherine brought him her homemade fruit cake on their first date. The dessert has been memorable to him ever since. Because of his love for the cake, the queen taught the cooks her secret recipe after they got married. When she passed, King Nicholas would order the servants to bring him fruit cakes either for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, or before he went to sleep in remembrance of his wife, how much he loves her, and how her memories will always live in the palace.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Any more requests?"

"That is all." Elsa smiles at Kai as they walk through the castle hallway. "Thank you, Kai. You are dismissed."

"One more notice, Your Majesty. Your bedroom is ready. Prince Jack is already on his way there."

"_What?_" Elsa turns her head and faces her Hand.

"_Your bedroom_, Your Majesty?" Kai raises his brow and looks up at the queen in confusion. Noticing the shock on her features, Kai quickly understands and gives her a comforting smile. "It is expected for the engaged future rulers of Arendelle to share the same room, Elsa."

Elsa goes pale as her hands unconsciously and slowly wrap themselves around her body. "Is this necessary?"

"It has always been in the contract," Kai purses his lips and fatherly places his hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Though they have no requirements for a certain _activity_ to be engaged. You two only need to share a room."

Elsa swallows her own breath as she nods at her godfather. "Thank you, Kai." She gives him an appreciating smile and places her hand atop his which lays on her shoulder. "You are dismissed."

Kai smiles at her and caresses her back comfortingly. "I'm only one floor away, Elsa, and Gerda is just down the hallway."

"I know. Thank you." Elsa sighs and watches Kai leave, fading into the dark shadows of the hallway. She lets herself lean against the wall and stares at the starry night sky, the glistening moon with its subliminal gleam. She stares at it for some time before taking heavy steps towards her parents' room.

The King and Queen's Quarters is the biggest room for the reigning royalties to settle with a massive bed, a gigantic wardrobe, and a grand balcony with the perfect view to the castle gates. She remembers how she and Anna used to sit on the balcony with their backs drowning inside their parents' warmth and their full-of-chocolate bellies being wrapped by their parents' loving holds. They would guess the shape of the stars or the homelands of the ships judging by their crests, though Anna would prefer to guess what the ships carry inside the cargo. Those were good times. _A perfect family._ One man, his wife, his two daughters, and all the love they hold for each other. Elsa smiles at the beautiful memories flashing inside her head as it fades the second she arrives at the door. Elsa gulps before gathering the courage to knock.

_Who knows Jack's shirtless already? That's going to be awkward._

"You may enter!" Jack's voice shouts from the other side of the door as Elsa twists the door open. She steps inside and spots him standing on the balcony, straightly staring at the moon. He has already taken off his previous attire, leaving him only in his white oversized shirt and comfortable trousers. "Do you need anything? I'm pretty sure I didn—" Jack stops on his tracks as soon as he realizes it wasn't the maid he was talking to. "_Elsa!_ What brings you here?" His face instantly lights up when he sees her. A second later, he unconsciously crosses his arms in front of himself to cover his improper clothes. Elsa only smiles at him, giving him a reassuring one because his clothes are proper enough, and shuts the door behind him.

"Do you like this room?" She says and walks to him.

"It's amazing! I know that Arendelle is _humongous_, but I never expected to have the guest room this _big!_" Jack childishly spreads his arms around, getting contented with Elsa's presence and causing her to heartily chuckle.

"This is _my_ _parents' _bedroom." She begins and looks around the carpeted walls. She doesn't blame Jack for being so oblivious since her parents never liked hanging their paintings on the walls or framing them on the tables. "This room is also my grandparents' bedroom, my great grandparents' room," She continues with more hints, leaving Jack speechless with his mouth partially open. She gives him a smile and shrugs. "_And ours_."

Jack's colors drained from his face. He shivers a little at the thought and quickly searches for something to look at. "Do we really—"

"It's in the contract both you and I have signed." Elsa fakes a smile and points out the wardrobe. "They even have all of our clothes inside already."

Jack sighs and walks closer to her. "Elsa, I—"

"I'll be in the bathroom." Elsa quickly excuses herself and vanishes from Jack's sight. The poor prince groans and returns his gaze to the moon.

Elsa lets out the longest sigh as she leans to the counter. Her eyes stare at the snowflakes that are slowly emerging from her stammering hands. She takes another deep breath and slowly lets them dissolve into the thin air. She proceeds to think about all the positive things that were happening so far. She hates everything about this set-up. She doesn't need a man as long as she has her sister and the kingdom but now _look _at _her_. Here she is, a queen who is to be wed to some prince from another kingdom all because of a _law_ she didn't _know_.

But then again_, _Jack is _not_ just some prince.

_He is one in a million._

He doesn't care about her title as queen since he is also here because of the arranged marriage. He doesn't care about her powers when many people would take it as an advantage or see it as a disaster. He even wants to be _friends_. He wants to build this _relationship_ with _her_, respecting her as the real queen she is.

She lightly smiles at the thought and hates herself for overthinking. This is _Jack_ she is with.

She _will_ be alright.

Elsa takes one last, deep breath before changing into more comfortable nightwear she had picked earlier from the wardrobe connected to the bathroom. It's her biggest and thickest sleepwear. She needs to make sure to have herself properly presented and _covered_ at the same time. This night is her first time in forever sleeping with a man aside from her blood. A blush creeps up on her cheeks as she thinks about it again. Elsa then lets out a soft grunt, stopping her brain to drive further to all the negative outcomes that are going to happen. She braces herself to walk out of the door and displays a small smile.

Her eyes pop wide the second she realizes Jack is not on the bed and anywhere to be seen. "Jack?" She whispers and walks closer to the mighty bed. She can hear his soft groan from the other side of the bed. "_Jack?_" She says his name louder this time and gasps when her eyes land on Jack who's laying on the floor with a single mattress along with two pillows, facing the door to the balcony in front of him. "Jack, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to sleep, Els." He lowly chuckles, his voice coming out as a mumble due to the pillow on his face, and shifts to face the door to the balcony.

Elsa's breath hitches she puts two and two together. "Jack, I'm fine. _It's okay_...Get yourself up and on the bed. The floor is freezing."

"I always love the cold." He tiredly replies and still keeps his face hidden.

"_Jack_, stop being ridiculous," Elsa responds and takes a step closer. "Why are you hiding your face anyway?"

"Aren't you in your sleepwear already?" He mumbles. "It's inappropriate for a man to see a lady in improper attire."

"Not for a man with his _fiancée_." She sighs and sits on the edge of the bed, looking at Jack who's still backing her. "Don't make this harder than it already is, Jack."

"I'm trying to make it easier, actually," Jack replies, moving his body a bit to reveal a part of his face, as his voice rings clearly now. His gaze locks on the moon, admiring the dim luminescence. "I just read the papers—they placed those on the table on purpose—and I found out that we only need to share a _room_. They didn't narrow it down to a _bed_."

"You do know 'sharing a room' is only a phrase to 'sleeping together on the same bed.' "

"_Nah_. Take me as a 7-year-old. I have no idea that's leading to that."

Elsa massages her forehead as this conversation irritates her even further. She just wants to sleep and forget about everything for a while. "_Jack_—"

"You won't be comfortable if I climb up there and lay beside you."

Elsa lets the silence fill in for a moment before she continues. "I _am_ comfortable, Jack. I _will_ be." She states, her voice coming out harsher than she thought. "We're _friends_, Jack. We're going to work this out, remember?"

"And as your friend, I don't want to cause you any discomfort."

"I told you _I am comfortable_." She unconsciously raises her voice.

"You aren't." Jack sighs and closes his eyes. "It doesn't matter how many times you tried to convince me, even your voice denies it all." Elsa keeps her lips shut as she focuses on Jack who's staring at the moon again, still not looking at her. "I really want to work this out, but with _tiny_ steps. It's weird to sleep with someone you just met today."

_Talk about irony._

"I don't want to do something you're not comfortable with, Els. I don't care what the council planned for us—it's _us_ getting married and it's _us_ to decide how we carry on with the process, especially with all the things behind closed doors." Elsa remains in silence and lets Jack's voice echoes through the walls. "I'm going to wait until you're finally—_really_ okay with me sleeping next to you." She feels her lips twitch into a smile at his speech as she blushes on how understanding he is.

"_Okay._" She gives in. "At least, sleep on the couch."

"You are in your sleepwear, Elsa." He replies, shifting to bury himself back into the softness of the pillow. "There's gonna be that moment when I'm going to shift sides. When I open my eyes, I don't want to see you wearing something you don't wanna be seen by a man. As I said, I don't wanna make you feel uncomfortable." Elsa feels her heart thumps at his words and how big his heart is.

Elsa cannot help her blossoming smile. She stands up from the bed and places her hand on his shoulder. He flinches in surprise but soon relaxes when Elsa gives him a squeeze of comfort. "_Thank you, Jack_." And that's everything she can give to him. Jack nods and sinks his head deeper into the pillow. The queen gives him one last smile before laying herself on the bed, taking the furthest spot from Jack to respect his privacy as well.

"Good night, Jack." Elsa still keeps her smile as she closes her eyes.

"Night." Jack curves a smile, too, as they are washed away to the land of dreams.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Henlo, people! I'm so happy I can finally update! I'm in the middle of my finals but I'm starting to get sick of studying, so I figured I should really continue this book as my super relaxing getaway! I hope you all love all the sweet Jelsa moments I poured here~**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Howard, the butler who serves North during his stay in Arendelle, is my original character**

**Thank you very much for the reviews, follows, and faves! That's insane! Your support has been crazy, I'm so overwhelmed! I can't thank you folks enough...****always remember that I love you all so freaking, damn much!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
****Reynia**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**First Breakfast**_

* * *

**"Jack, wake up." **The young prince slowly shifts from his position as he struggles to open his eyes. Blinking several times to adjust himself with the sunlight that's piercing through the windows, he stretches himself awake as he spots an angel kneeling down in front of him.

Except for the fact that _she_ is not an _angel_.

_She_ is _his_ _future wife_.

_She_ just happens to _look _like _one_.

"Hi." Elsa weakly chuckles at him, silently thanking the God that Jack has enough sleep judging from how relaxed he was and how he smiled in his sleep which Elsa finds truly adorable.

Jack lazily rubs his eyes as he flashes her a smile. "Hey..." He yawns and slowly lifts his back from the ground. He makes sure to take a quick glance at Elsa's outfit, checking if it's already proper enough for him to see, before completely opening his eyes. "Morning." He greets and widens his smile. Her hair is tied in a lovely bun as her white dress shimmers under the morning sun.

_She definitely looks like an angel_.

"Good morning." Elsa copies the gesture and takes the blanket from him. "The servants are preparing for breakfast. I'll wait for you downstairs?"

"Yeah, just let me take a shower and get rid of my stinky odor." Jack yawns once again and ruffles his hair, taking a few more seconds to fully regain his consciousness.

Elsa giggles before standing up and neatly folding the blanket. She places the blanket on the small table near the door for the maids to fetch later. Jack stands up as well and picks up the pillows from the carpeted floor. He gently places them on the bed, not wanting to ruin the bed that's already straightened by Elsa. "See you later, then." Elsa sheepishly smiles at him and places her hand on the door handle.

"See you." He gives her his casual smirk and watches how the lovely maiden fades from his sight.

Jack sighs happily as his mind processes the things that occurred yesterday evening. He starts to list all the incredible things which he thought would only be a fantasy.

_The Queen of Arendelle is tremendously gorgeous._

_Elsa is unbelievably kind, passionate, beautiful inside and out._

_Elsa has effing ice powers._

_There is a living snowman._

_Elsa's family accepts him._

_He is getting married._

"_Damn_." Jack laughs breathlessly and scratches the back of his neck. Never in a million years did he imagine something as _crazy _as this would happen to him. He would've always thought he would grow old in his castle, rot inside that palace—perhaps spending his time practising his field skill with the guardsmen, messing with Bunny's papers once that prick is king, spending some time with Sandy, and having fun with Emma—and just simply live the rest of his life doing all the regular basis as _Prince Jackson of the Northern Isles_.

Now, here he stands as the _future King Consort of Arendelle_. He has _Elsa_ as his_ wife_, _Elsa's family_ as _his family_, and _Elsa's home_ as _his home_. He's getting married for fuck's sake. He had never ever thought—let alone _cared_—about romance just a tiny bit. _Heck_, he used to have this _strange _rancor for _women_—female royalties to be specific. Now, _he's marrying one_. No, wait, not just _one_.

Elsa is everything a man could have ever dreamed of. She is—_perfect_. Her looks, her personalities, her beautiful mind, her care for her people, her love for her family, her respect for everyone, her breathtaking ability—she is a _blessing _to his life.

And out of all people, she agrees to marry _him_.

_Who?_ Nothing more than a _nuisance_. A troublemaker prince who only causes trouble everywhere he flees and has zero romantic involvement with anyone in particular. An ordinary young man who is extremely, implausibly fucking lucky to have someone as her at his side.

But, still, she agrees to marry _him_.

She made it clear she used to send those gentlemen volunteering to be her husband back to wherever they came from but _him_.

She even agrees to be_ his friend._ That one is _not _required in the contract.

Then, something strikes him as it destroys the grin on his face. The word _contract_ seems to drain the happiness that was once radiating through his body.

Of course, she agrees.

This is an arranged marriage, you fucking doofus.

She is _forced _to do this. She has to do _everything_ to make this _work_.

He curses after the reality check. He knows it deep down Elsa's not satisfied with the whole idea of this plotted betrothal shit. She is forced to marry him, be his wife, share a fucking room with him, do a physical interco—

_Alright, fuck that._

Jack promises himself he won't do anything that will cause Elsa further displeasure. His presence is already a bug to her. He will do everything in his power to make her happy despite all this crappy kingdom ordinance. Thus, he already promised to her little sister to always maintain her happiness.

If he's not going to spend the rest of his life as a plague in the Northern Isles, he will live his life as Elsa's _fun _guardian.

* * *

"_Oh my God! _He_ did _that?" Anna's squeal echoes through the dining room walls as she tries her best not to jump around in full delight.

"_Shush_, Anna," Elsa, on the other hand, tries her best not to let the blush that's going to overcome her cheeks win. Anna will tease her even more if she has her bashful face. "You said you wouldn't overreact."

"How does one manage to handle this overwhelming happiness for her beloved sister?" Anna shrieks once more, though in a more reasonable volume. "He is _so_ understanding, Elsa! You just get yourself the _perfect _husband material!"

Elsa can only smile. Of course, she likes being around Jack—she _loves _having Jack. She is more than pleased to have someone as wonderful as him as her friend, but to be her _husband?_

Don't get her wrong, she considered herself greatly lucky to have Jack as her life partner. She wouldn't deny if the circumstances were better and they actually had time to learn about each other, she _would _be very happy to marry him. It's just everything that has been going on is so _strange_. She had always believed she would end up alone. She had always thought marriage was one thing that is not _destined _for _her_. Everything is just so _rushed_ and too _sudden_. She really needs to think this through. This man is going to be at every breath she takes.

Is she _truly ready _for all of this?

"Good morning, Your Majesty and Your Highness," The sisters stop from their bickering as their attentions dart on the King of the Northern Isles.

"King Nicholas," Elsa warmly greets him and walks to his direction with Anna following her action. "I'm glad you could join us for breakfast."

"Well, I have not stopped admiring the snacks I received last night and am surely looking forward to tasting more delightful cuisine from your professional chefs." The sisters laugh at the old man's honest blurt. "I have not properly expressed my feelings towards your wintery show last night, Queen Elsa. I am _absolutely _in awe of your gift."

Anna shoots her sister a happy grin as Elsa happily flies over the moon. "Thank you for your kind words, King Nicholas." Elsa gestures Anna to come forward as the strawberry blonde smiles at the king. "May I introduce you to my lovely younger sister, Princess Anna of Arendelle."

"It's nice to finally meet you, King Nicholas." Anna curtsies in front of him as the old man replies to the gesture with a friendly nod.

"It is nice to finally meet you as well, Princess. You are as beautiful as your sister." King Nicholas gives her a fatherly smile. Anna only grins and looks at her sister who's smiling proudly at her.

"Please take a seat, Your Majesty," Elsa offers the king a spot at the end of the table and orders the maid to ready the dishes. "Jack and my sister's suitor will be joining us soon." Elsa places herself beside him as Anna sits close by her sister.

"I am looking forward to meeting your suitor, Princess Anna." King Nicholas sends a smile to Anna before returning to Elsa. "And don't worry about my son. He has a habit to make us wait for early morning activities back in the Northern Isles." He laughs as the sisters escape a giggle. He stops from the series of laughter and tilts his head a bit. "Has he been troubling you in any way, Your Majesty?"

"No, King Nicholas. Not at all." Elsa replies quickly, her eyes soften the moment she notices the old man's concern. "Jack has been nothing but kind to me." The young queen smiles and looks down at her lap. "He made sure I was comfortable enough with the whole situation, he bravely gave those gentlemen who disregarded us a fair lesson, he even willingly tried to establish a friendship with me." She returns to the king and blushes when she sees King Nicholas grinning at her. She steals a glance at Anna who has a victorious smile on her face as well.

Elsa swiftly clears her throat and straightens herself. "You have raised him well, King Nicholas." She flashes her father-in-law a grateful smile. "You should be proud."

King Nicholas chuckles as he places his arms on the table. "Well, Jack has a lot of character in him. You will see more from him as time goes." He sighs as his hand goes under his collar. He grabs a beautiful necklace—made from shining tiny diamonds—as he touches its locket which forms a shape of a heart. A faint click was heard before the locket opens by itself as it reveals a picture of a sophisticated woman and her wavy auburn hair. "I used to be busy preparing my two oldest sons as the future of the Northern Isles. From the first day Jack was born, he never agreed to the things I had instructed for my sons. I then decided to let him be the free spirit he wanted to be. As a result, he grew more attached to his mother and his beloved little sister." King Nicholas inches forward to give the sisters a closer look at his wife. "You should be thanking my wife, Katherine. Jack spent his life with his mother more, learned a lot of things from her, and he made me feel closer to her every single day."

Anna can feel her tears summoning at the corner of her eyes as she quickly wipes them away before they're threatening to fall on her cheeks. Elsa sits there in silence, sadness overwhelming her, as she examines the warm features of Jack's mother. Her blue eyes resemble Jack's so much. The depth of those ocean blue eyes could provide anyone with a sense of comfort by just one look.

"She must have been a great mother and wife." Elsa smiles at the old man as Anna nods, agreeing to her sister's encouraging statement.

King Nicholas hums as he looks down at the image of the love of his life. "She is." He slowly closes the locket and hides it back underneath his collar. The sisters admire the old man's undying love for his wife and send him a supportive smile.

"Well, you two better not buying all the embarrassing stories he might've told you by now." Jack's voice breaks the silence between the three as he approaches the table with his grey-colored attire.

"How nice of you to finally join us." King Nicholas laughs at his grand entrance. Jack smiles at the group as he sits beside his father, facing Elsa who's smiling at him.

"Good morning to you, Jack!" Anna kindly greets as she steals a few suspicious glances at Elsa. "I'm so happy to have you here—well, especially my _dear sister_ right here."

Elsa secretly kicks Anna's feet under the table as King Nicholas chuckles at the sisters' silly demeanor. Jack can only blush and awkwardly smile at Anna's comment. "Good morning to you, too." He plainly shrugs and gives Elsa a shy smile. Before Anna could tease him further, he hurriedly changes the topic. "Is Kristoff coming?"

Anna beams at the mention of her suitor. "_Oh_, yes! He will be here soon. He just needs to feed his reindeer some carrots."

"Reindeer? Your suitor owns a _reindeer_ as a _pet?_" The King chirps happily while Elsa is instructing the servants to bring in the dishes.

"More like his best friend, Your Grace." Anna laughs and eyes the chocolate desserts that are coming from the kitchen.

"Well, that sure _is _something." Jack faintly chuckles and eyes his father whose eyes broaden in delight.

"_What a coincidence!_" The old man joyfully exclaims. "I have _six_ of them back in the Northern Isles."

"_Six pet reindeers?_" Anna gasps in amazement as she fully turns her body to face the old man. Elsa can only giggle at the sight.

"With six uncreative names as well," Jack smirks and thanks the servants who are serving him.

"Do not offend Rudolph, Rudolph Junior, Young Rudolph, Great Rudolph, Old Rudolph, and Mini Rudolph in front of me, son." The group of royalty laughs as the reindeer story goes.

"Hey, Anna and Elsa—" The laughter ends as the eyes of the dining room lands on Kristoff who's awkwardly standing beside the door. "—uh, I mean, _good morning_, _Your_—uh—_Highnesses_." Anna tries so hard to suppresses her laughter as she sweetly flashes the edgy iceman a smile.

"You must be Kristoff!" King Nicholas excitedly declares and gestures Kristoff to blend in with the group. "Please, join us!"

"Thanks—_I mean_—_thank you_, Your...Majesty." He sheepishly walks closer to the group. He slides to Anna's side but poorly bumps the table and, as a result, causes a small quake to the eating utensils. Covered in guilt, Kristoff purses his lips as he very slowly sits beside Anna. "_Right_. I apologize for that." Elsa and Anna look at each other as they silently burst into small giggles while Jack is purposely looking down to hide his laughter. King Nicholas lightly chuckles at him and respectfully nods. "I also want to apologize for uh—my _late arrival_—due to...uh— my morning _schedule_ to...well..._feed_ my..."

"Pet reindeer." The king warmly finishes his sentence and slowly eats his bacon. "It is a pretty fascinating fact that you have one as a pet."

"Uh...yeah, I guess—_I mean_...Thank you, Your Majesty."

King Nicholas glances at the young queen and takes a sip of his coffee. "Your Majesty, if I may suggest, could we put aside all of our titles in the presence of family and only see each other as nothing more than a family member?"

Elsa smiles at the king and simply nods. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Then it is _settled!_" King Nicholas raises his cup and brings it forward. "I would like you all to address me as North. I remember my wife was the one who came up with that nickname. You know, I love to carve woods and ice. She once imagined I would be a great toy maker in the North Pole."

"_Classic_." Jack hums at his father, receiving a wink from the old man, and raises his cup as well. "Jack, at your service. Never knew why my father gave me the name Jackson since I never asked." The group laughs at the comment as the king shoots him a look.

"Call me Anna!" The young princess follows. "My name is supposed to represent _grace_, but the odds were never in my favor." Laughter barks once again.

"You make your _own _version of grace." Elsa whispers to her sister, earning a heartfelt smile from her, as she lifts her cup. "Please, call me Elsa. Our parents told me the name _Elsa_ embodies a _noble_. They told us our relatives from Corona had helped them to decide the name. That pretty much explains the Coronian influence."

"Well, they are ironically _accurate _the first time." Anna playfully snorts, releasing a couple of giggles from her suitor and the royalties from the Northern Isles.

"My name is Kristoff," Kristoff begins as he feels more comfortable by minutes. "I gotta say owning a reindeer as a pet is not the only thing that's strange for me." He chuckles as he glances at Anna, making sure she knows where he's leading the conversation. Anna encouragingly nods at him and lets him go on with his story. He glances at Elsa, too, as the queen shares the same look with her sister. "I never knew why Kristoff was my name in the first place since I had a rough life growing up as a kid. I only recall having Sven as the only family I got until I was merely adopted by trolls."

"_Trolls?_" Jack smirks as he squints his eyes in interest.

"_That_ is rather _interesting_. I, myself, have heard quite a lot about their stories back then." The king responds and empties his cup. Elsa automatically asks the servant to refill the drinks.

"They are real." Kristoff smiles and states the clarification. "They disguise themselves as stones and only reveal their true forms in the presence of people who seek their help or for important matters."

"I see." North hums and thanks the servant for another newly served coffee. "Well, I can see that you, young man, have indeed a strange life background." He smiles and nods proudly at Kristoff. "A _good _kind of strange. Jack and I would love to hear more of this folk of yours since we are all becoming a family from now on."

"Sure." Kristoff's smile widens at the king's welcoming gesture. "I would love to take you guys there with my sleigh and introduce Sven along the way."

"That reindeer of yours?" North laughs and teasingly shakes his head. "Wait until I bring you _my _sleigh along with my six giant reindeers."

"And just wait until you guys experience the ride." Jack adds and eyes his father with his usual smirk. The old man once again replies with a wink. "Now, I believe this is the part where we all cheer because my arm is getting pretty tired." The group giddily snickers at the young prince's statement.

"To our new family," Elsa begins.

"Without any title being said," Anna continues.

"And our reindeer conversations," North teases.

"And the awkward start," Kristoff chuckles.

"And all the fun that awaits." Jack finishes as they bump their cups together.

"And _me!_" The group stops amid their cheers as Olaf casually stands at the end of the table and lifts his own mug filled with hot chocolate.

"_Shostakovich!_"

* * *

The breakfast was surely one of a kind. North was clearly fascinated by the precipitous presence of a _snowman_. Jack wished he had an artist back there to paint his father's face and hang the prints all over the Northern Isles' castle walls. Elsa had to give her guests more details about her powers and its capabilities of creating lives. She also demonstrated how she could make outfits as well. She used Olaf for the sample as she played with her magic and made him a summer hat along with a matching summer robe for his snow body. Soon after, the new royal family talked about more things and laughed even more, even the servants that were surrounding the table couldn't help but express their happiness as well.

Shortly after the breakfast, Kristoff and Sven went to work. Anna decided to visit Rani at the Borgbro Inn—tagging Olaf along with her—since the three other royalties would be busy with the marriage settlements for the rest of the day. The moment the council arrived in the castle, King Nicholas and the newly engaged couple proceeded their ways to the council chamber. They spent hours planning the arrangements and listing the things that had to be done each day before the wedding, which is only in _two weeks_.

Elsa had many times announced her disagreement regarding the rushed date, but the council did not tolerate any kind of reason to delay the marriage—even Jack with his surprisingly good negotiating skills. They even organized to spread out the letters the night later. Elsa could only sigh at the solid decision. Jack could only give her sideways glances and flash her a smile. She was surely grateful for the mental support. As for North, the old man decided to spend most of the time in silence and let the couple sort their problems out. He wasn't really in the mood to interact with the council and all their overruling commands, even Kai refused to be intensely involved in the conversation and preferred to ease Elsa by explaining the council's intentions in a much softer way. Count Eirik and Count Gregory were the ones to put an end to the meeting. Once the discussions for the day had been recorded, the council announced the date of the next meeting and dismissed themselves.

"_Argh_, my back hurts." Jack groans as he stretches himself around, causing Elsa to laugh at his funny movements.

"I pray you will get used to it, Jack." North shoots his son a funny look. The sound of crashing waves and the shouts of the people at the harbor are present as the royalties stand on the waterfront. "I believe this is where we part ways!" North smiles down at the couple, he raises his voice a bit due to the loud noise of the crew cramming his belongings and a few goods gifted by the queen.

Elsa gently places her hand on the old man's forearm and sincerely stares at him. "Have a safe journey back home, North."

North takes her hand in his as he plants a soft kiss on her palm. "I will see you soon, _future daughter-in-law_." Elsa and Jack simultaneously blush at the tenderness and earnestness of his voice. He lets go of Elsa's hand and gives a firm squeeze on Jack's shoulder.

"You, young man, do not cause any trouble in my absence. Clear?" The father curves a smirk, acquiring a laugh from his son.

"I'll try?" Jack chuckles and lets out a little yelp as soon as North pulls him into a bone-crushing hug.

"_We_ are proud of you."

Jack freezes at the words that fly out of the old man's mouth. For years, he never agreed to the things his father had instructed him to do. Jack would always think he was only a hopeless case and his father would never expect more from him, so he never tried to impress him by following his orders. He would always believe Aster and Sandy, the two successors of his father, were the only ones obliged to make him proud.

Now, he finally realizes the essence behind Jamie's statement. Making both parents proud is the child's greatest honor.

Jack slowly pulls the old man closer and treasures the moment. "Thanks, Dad." They both pull apart, keeping the identical smiles on their faces.

"Your Majesties and Your Highness," Captain Fredrik approaches them with a bow and a smile. "We are set to go."

North nods at his report. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Thank you for your service, Captain Fredrik." Elsa warmly claims as Captain Fredrik responds with a bow as he returns to the ship, ordering his crew to start hoisting the sails.

North grabs both of the young adults' hands and puts them together. "Well then, good luck with the wedding."

"Thank you, North."

"We got this, old man."

The couple smile as they watch North makes his way to the ship. The Northern Isles navy trims the mainsail, letting the Northern Isles' snowflake crest stands out in full glory, and slowly sails away to the open ocean. The king waves at Jack and Elsa one last time before disappearing to his royal barrack.

"Well," Jack chuckles and turns to Elsa who's staring back at him with a smile. "Starting from now we will get used to a more peaceful breakfast without reindeer and sleigh as the main topics." Elsa lets out a few giggles before looking down at their intertwined hands. Jack follows her gaze and feels his cheeks warming up. "Uh...well, I _kinda_ forgot about that."

Elsa looks back at him and gives his hand a gentle squeeze. "And _we _will get used to _this_." Jack nods and squeezes back. As long as there is no trace of a slight disturbance in Elsa's eyes, he will be happy to do it.

The couple proceeds their way along with a few guards leading and tailing them back to the castle. Just like on their way to the harbor earlier, a bunch of citizens come to their presence, bow down before them, and wish them happiness for their engagement. Despite the sunlight's aid, Jack's blue eyes have never shone this much. They light up when more and more people rush to see and talk to them. Elsa keeps a mental note to herself that they need to go outside more often. Back before she met him, Elsa and Anna had a 3 p.m. daily stroll around the village since Anna loved the outdoors and Elsa wanted to have intimate relationships with her people. Seeing Jack's happiness once more, Elsa reminds herself to mark this activity as her and Jack's daily routine, too, once they are married.

_Married, huh?_

She unconsciously grips Jack's hand tighter as Jack quickly snaps all of his attention to her. "Are you alright?" Jack's sentence was the one to bring her back to her awareness. Elsa clears her throat and gives him a reassuring smile. Her heart unknowingly flutters at any slight visage of him being concerned at her state.

"I'm great." Elsa answers and swiftly continues her sentence, understanding very well Jack has the habit of not likely buying all the things she says in the first place. "I just want to let you know that our people love you."

"I like the sound of that." Jack chuckles as his neck and cheeks turn crimson. "_Our people_." Elsa smiles.

This marriage won't be easy at all, but—having him looking at her like this—she's not scared anymore.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Heyya, my dearest readers! Here is another chappie and I hope you all like it! I gotta remind y'all that I'm taking things really, extremely slow. I want to get in a more in-depth journey with the characters' personalities, hoping that I'm doing a fine job at it, so I hope you are all patient enough to wait for the Frozen II journey! I also published a new book called "_Things Inside My Head_" which is a collection of Jelsa one-shots. The book is messily-written and spontaneously-made, but it's still pretty enjoyable I guess...I hope the story can be your reading material while waiting for the next update of this book! 3**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- The kingdom of Corona, according to "_Tangled_", is located in Germany, and Elsa's name in Germany means _noble_, so I just connect things together**_**  
**_**\- North's reindeers' names are all my ideas  
****\- According to '**_**Rise of the Guardians**_**', whenever North is surprised, he will shout a name of a classical Russian composer, Shostakovich is an example**

**Thank you so much for your reviews, favs, and follows! This book literally grows so much and I'm super thankful for you all! I hope you guys have an amazing week! **

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	14. Chapter 13

_**The List**_

* * *

**Princess Anna is enthusiastic. **"So, you guys are going to get some flowers for today?" She steps inside her sister's study with the usual silver tray consisting rows of krumkaker cookies, a cup of coffee for Elsa, and a tall glass of chocolate milk for herself.

Elsa nods and rearranges the documents from yesterday's meeting. After bidding North their goodbyes, the pair returned to the castle and had their lunch. The rest of the day was spent by rereading the notes from the meeting and writing down a long to-do list of the wedding preparations. Jack managed to _persuade _Elsa to work on the _floor_—wanting to stretch his exhausted legs was his reason—though she complained almost every time seeing all the papers untidily scattered around the carpet. They went out from their room to have their dinner, chatted a bit with Anna—more like got _teased _by the fact that they spent the whole day _together_—and returned to their documents. As the night arrived, they agreed to change into their nightwear. Last night, Elsa came in prepared and wore a thick dark green long dress to make Jack comfortable seeing her. Hours passed by as Jack fell asleep during the process. He, fortunately, landed on his spot on the floor and snuggled with his pillow. Elsa only giggled at him and yawned an hour later. She decided to call it a day and get some sleep after putting a blanket around Jack and blowing off the candles.

Based on their to-do list, today is the day where they order the flowers and pastries for the wedding. The councils had suggested for the couple to perform half of the preparations—especially the ones involving the people of Arendelle's work—by themselves in order to help Jack adapt more with the citizens. The invitations are already taken care of by the councils while the preparations for the Great Hall—consisting of the flags, banners, tables, job descriptions for the servants—and the patrol shifts for the guardsmen are handled by Kai and Gerda.

"Yes. We will be visiting Gabriella's flower shop along with Tomally's bakery." Elsa smiles thankfully at her sister and takes a sip of her coffee. Norwegians are known for their preferences in coffee.

"Ah...Baker Tomally," Anna's mind wanders to the woman's delicious, original krumkaker as she slumps to the couch beside Elsa's desk.

Elsa scans her list once again and joins her sister on the couch. "Do you want me to get you something from the shops?"

"Some krumkaker from Tomally will do." Anna slurps the milk away, leaving a chocolate mustache on her face. Tomally's krumkaker is important for the sisters because it's their mother's favorite sweet. She was a dear friend of Queen Iduna in their youth. They spent their childhood together in Arendelle Orphan Home, the only orphanage in the kingdom. Tomally was gifted with extraordinary baking skill, so spent most of her time in the pantry, helping the cooks prepare the meals for her fellow orphans. Young Iduna was very fond of her friend's krumkaker, so she asked Tomally to teach her how to make it. Growing up, Tomally continued to work for the orphanage's kitchen. Iduna, on the other hand, worked as a seamstress in a boutique and later was courted by the king. Once she was crowned queen, she asked for her husband's permission to help Tomally create her own business. Agnarr—being a generous king and a loving husband—built Tomally a bakery of her own, he favored the type of sweet as well. Tomally carried on with her venture and got herself a loving husband in the process.

Elsa shoots her sister a smirk and glances at rows and rows of krumkaker cookies still present on the tray. "You know that's still a whole lot of krumkaker for the week. I bet Olina still keeps some in the kitchen." Since the sisters love the krumkaker as much as their parents did, Queen Iduna passed the recipe to Olina. She had been serving the sisters ever since because they didn't want to add more burden to Tomally's extremely busy orders.

"I _really _miss Tomally's homemade krumkaker and—_besides_—Olina is getting older." Anna playfully says. "Her krumkaker doesn't taste quite the same as before."

"Oh?" Elsa's smirk grows larger. "I'll make sure to inform Olina about your review of her baking."

"_No, wait!_" Anna shrieks, nearly dropping her chocolate milk. "I take it back! Olina's cooking is _excellent_." Elsa laughs at Anna's panic state. They both know Olina is as good as Egil in the kitchen and their skills do not lessen a bit as they age. _That _is only Anna's lame excuse to get what she wants. "I just want Tomally's krumkaker...pretty _please?_"

Elsa laughs. "Sure." She wants those tasty and original krumkaker cookies, too.

Pleased with her sister's answer, Anna slides to another discussion. "I'm going with Kristoff today!"

"Again?"

"_Yep_." Anna replies proudly. "We made a bet yesterday: if I could lift one ice block from the freezing water, I would go with him again!"

"After how many attempts?" Elsa lightly chuckles and silently munches her cookie.

Anna snorts before answering. "Thirteen."

"_Wow_." Elsa tries to sound impressed as Anna nudges her elbow. "What makes you want to go again anyway? I understand you have an obsession for outdoors, but specifically the warm territories. This is the North Mountain we're talking about."

"Have you tried visiting the mountain, Elsa?" Anna grins and puts the cookie jar on the table. "You surely thawed Arendelle, but not the North Mountain."

"I—" Elsa's eyebrows start to knit in panic as she fully turns to her sister. "I should go there immediately—Did you see anyone get hurt?"

"_Woah_, calm down!" Anna reassures her sister by placing her hands on both of Elsa's arms. "_Nobody_ lives in the mountain, so _no one_ gets hurt." Elsa slowly nods and listens carefully to Anna's words. "You should've joined us! You can see how beautiful the mountains are." Noticing Elsa's confusion, Anna goes on with her narrative. "You literally made a_ breathtaking winter wonderland!_ The trees are covered in _ice, _there's this icy waterfall—don't worry, the water streams just fine—and—_oh!_—there's tiny snowflake patterns on the _water!_ They are so beautiful! Anyone would've _loved_ to go back to see the creations of your beautiful powers!"

Elsa flushes as Anna keeps describing the things she had witnessed up in the mountain. She adores how her sisters' eyes gleam every time she adds another detail to her story. "No wonder Kristoff and his fellow ice harvesters always come late. They have so many incredible things to see." Anna sighs and caresses Elsa's arms. "Your power is truly a gift, you know." Elsa giggles and slowly nods.

"Oh! One more thing!" Anna squeals, causing Elsa to squint her eyes in surprise. "Kristoff once led his troop to visit your ice castle. You _really_ should fix the damages in your palace. The broken chandelier—thanks to my _murderous ex-fiancé_—is so awful! And the balcony—thanks to _two_ _evil Weseltonian guards_—is really horrible!"

"I really should," Elsa stands up and goes back to her list of wedding preparations. "Well, Jack and I don't really have a tight schedule on the last day..." She rereads each point and uses her thumb to trace the words. "I think we can take a quick detour to my palace after the final fitting of the wedding dress."

"_Jack and I_, huh?" Anna gives her a teasing grin after she stuffs two chocolate cookies inside her mouth. "Well, in that case, take _all the time_ you guys need." Elsa instantly blushes at her sister's reply and tries to think about another topic.

"All the time to do what?" Jack's nonchalant voice pops from the door, sending the sisters to look at the young prince who has prepared himself for a walk around the town.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll be with my fiancé since you're already with yours." Anna grins innocently and sends a wink to her sister before excusing herself out of the room, passing Jack who's waving at her. Elsa clears her throat and makes her way to Jack.

"We should get going. We have four guards waiting for us in front of the gates." Elsa informs as she walks out of the door with Jack walking beside her.

"How are you today?" Jack smiles down at her as they walk downstairs.

Elsa looks up to him and sends him a grateful smile. "I'm great."

"Care to specify this_ great _of yours?" Elsa giggles and shakes her head. It thumps a certain part of her heart knowing that he gives so many regards to her well-being.

"Well, I had a pleasant breakfast with Anna since you wanted to have a longer _quality time _with your pillows." Jack playfully snorts. "After that, she offered to help me with our to-do list. We chatted and our conversation ended the moment you arrived."

"I didn't cut off any important discussion, right?"

"No, you didn't. I was just about to come to get you," The couple reaches the first floor of the castle as they walk through the hall. "To make sure you didn't oversleep and abandon your breakfast."

Jack chuckles and stares outside the window, smiling at the sight of Arendelle's busy harbor. "The waffle tasted _amazing_, by the way."

"Egil is the best." Elsa sighs dreamily as the image of her favorite chocolate mousse emerges inside her head.

"So, that's the name of your amazing cook?"

Elsa nods as she smiles at the servants who are greeting them. "He's also my second godfather."

"After?"

"Kai, my royal advisor. He was the castle's handler during my father's reign and was really close to me."

"So, basically your godfathers are the ones who take care of your mind and your appetite."

Elsa escapes a peal of soft laughter and looks at Jack who's amusingly grinning at her. "You can say that." She plainly shrugs with a funny smile on her face. "_Oh_, there is a third one—_Actually_, he doesn't really fit the saying _godfather_ because he's way much younger than Egil and Kai, but he does take care of me as much as they do." Jack's grin broadens as she starts spilling things on her own without him purposely throwing questions to push her. "Sir Marius. Lord Commander of the Queensguard."

"And there is another one taking care of your safety." Jack chuckles as they walk outside the castle to the yard. "What about a godmother? Do you have one?"

"Yes, I have two of them. The first one is Gerda, head of the servants in the castle. She's in charge of my level of stress."

Jack hums as the guards slowly open the gates. "How so?"

"She's the one to provide warmth whenever I face my downfalls. She truly is a mother figure."

He smiles. He can truly relate with the need of a mother's care, especially during the child's worst days. "And the second?"

"The second goes to Olina. She, too, takes care of my appetite, though she is more focused on the sweets. She bakes the best chocolate chip cookies."

Jack smiles down at her. "I'm glad you have all of them. You deserve every support you can get."

Elsa looks up and smiles at him. She unconsciously slips her fingers inside of his and guides him to the gates. "What about you? How are you today?"

"_Ah_, so far so great. The breakfast was truly a blast, I had a nice shower, the servants seemed to warm up to me..." Elsa only stares at her fiancé lovingly and listens to his ramble. "However, I'm still a little edgy about meeting the citizens."

"They love you, Jack." Elsa reassuringly caresses the back of his hand with her thumb.

Jack releases a dry chuckle. "Well, I just don't wanna mess this up. You know I'm a prince who doesn't act like one."

"Then don't act like one." Jack raises his brow at his fiancée. "You do know Anna is a princess who doesn't act like one either." He chuckles and nods in agreement. "Arendelle is one huge family and what did your father say about being in the presence of a family?"

" 'Put aside all of our titles and only see each other as nothing more than a family member.' " Jack gives Elsa a sheepish smile.

"Then live that pact." The young prince chuckles and nods at Elsa's words. The four guards who had been waiting for them at the gates are starting to follow them. Elsa greets the gentlemen one by one while introducing and helping Jack remember their names. They then talk about a lot of things along the way, though the conversation is dominated by the queen informing her fiancé a thing or two about the shop owners they planned to visit today. Jack still admires how happy she is while recounting the moments she had shared with her people. She seems to remember all the little things about her citizens. She truly is a remarkable queen and he cannot wait to see how she lives to that honor.

The Arendelle Plaza has always been so buoyant, just like the first time he saw it. The only difference is that now almost every disclosed eye is aiming glutted attention at him. The poor prince tries to keep his focus on Elsa and her stories to steer away from his nervousness of being the center of deliberation.

The couple's first stop is Tomally's Baked Goods. Elsa and Jack only need to take a few steps to reach their first destination which happens to be the bakery owned by Queen Iduna's childhood friend. Their presence is welcomed by the rich scent of Tomally's fresh loaves of bread. The bakery is big compared to the other stores around. It has large storage and a series of shelves for the smallwares and ingredients. Tomally's workers have a matching dark brown apron.

"Elsa, darling! It's _so_ good to see you!" The baker beams as soon as her eyes land on the two royals. She quickly leaves her work on the wooden table, washes and dries her hands clean, then rushes to engulf Elsa in a tight hug. "You've gotten so much prettier and _definitely _taller!"

Elsa laughs and squeezes the old woman as tight. "It's so good to see you, too, Tomally." Jack walks inside the store after telling the guards to wait outside and allows them to wander around the nearest stalls while waiting. Jack watches both women with a smile as he glances at the other female workers who are bowing in front of him and looking at each other with bashful grins. Elsa slowly pulls away and is welcomed by Tomally's radiant smile. Her short brown hair shines under the sunlight and her eyes twinkle in happiness at Elsa's arrival. "I'm sorry Anna and I haven't had the time to visit."

"Oh, dear, you have no reason to be sorry for that!" Tomally smiles and looks up to Jack's tall figure. She breaks away from Elsa and slowly bows at the future king. "Good morning, Prince Jackson. It is a pleasure to be welcoming your first visit here!"

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am." Jack smiles warmly, appreciating the old lady for her energy, and steps forward to stand beside Elsa. "Elsa has talked greatly of you."

"_My_, our queen has always been too benevolent defining all of us to her royal guests and often forgotten how _wonderful _she is." Elsa blushes and shoots the baker a shy grin.

"She is, isn't she?" Elsa's head turns to her husband only to find Jack lovingly staring down at her as his hand slips inside of hers. She flashes him a kind smile, earning a silent snicker from the florist who clearly notices the love in the air.

Tomally sighs and runs her soft hand through Elsa's cheek. "How I wish your mother could see how beautifully you have grown." Tears slowly break from the old woman's eyes.

"Tomally..." Elsa coos and pulls Tomally into another embrace.

"She would be so _proud._" Hiccups escape Tomally's lips. "I remember how badly she dreamed of seeing her kids with their true loves...having you and Anna live your lives with someone you love just as she with Agnarr." Jack's chest grows heavy at the baker's words. The word 'love' stabs him with every guilt.

Elsa only remains silent as she runs her hands around Tomally's back. The baker eventually straightens herself as she grips Elsa's shoulder as if she's saying things to her in utter silence. Her tears begin to dry and her smile grows wider. "Alright, I'm sure you are in need of my service. What can I do for your wedding?"

As soon as Elsa explains about her visit, the energetic baker swiftly introduces the queen her special offers for the wedding's pastries. Tomally knows Elsa and Anna as much as she knows Iduna and Agnarr. She knows the sisters inherit their love for chocolate from their father, so she generates the queen to drool over the chocolate section. Jack can feel his mouth waters as well, marking tons of chocolate delicacies in front of him, and decides to join his overjoyed fiancée munching the pastries one by one.

Elsa starts to list all the kinds of bread and rolls she had picked from the menu and tasted from the display cases to one of Tomally's assistants while consuming her favorite _krumkake_. While Elsa's busy coordinating the order with the workers, Tomally takes the chance to walk over to the prince who is having the time of his life consuming the krumkake. Judging from the faces he makes, Tomally assumes it is his first time with the Norwegian cookies.

"May I say something, Your Highness?" Tomally's gentle voice stops the prince from eating as he turns around to properly face the baker.

"Of course." He nods and puts down the plate on the counter.

"I want to thank you for being here, Your Highness." Jack shoots her a questioning look as he simply hums, urging her to go on. "Any slightest news about the royal family spreads fast from the castle to everyone in town. It saddens us to see how many times our queen had been forced to marry those who she doesn't love. As an old friend of her mother, her circumstances hurt me as well. Any mother would wish her daughter to be happy." Jack gulps at the sensitive word. _If only_ he could end all this lie and stop feeling guilty for lying to Elsa's people. He sure does genuinely like Elsa as a friend though. "However, things begin to change now and we are no longer in sadness. I can see that our queen is happy with you, Prince Jackson. Therefore, I am thankful. I bet Queen Iduna would be happy, too."

Jack's heart flutters at the baker's serene words. He can only offer her a heartfelt smile as he spots Elsa walking over to him after chatting with the female workers. The prince stands up as soon as Elsa wraps her arm around his. "We're ready to go. Thank you so much for this, Tomally. I'll make sure you visit more often."

"You don't have to thank me, darling. You and Anna are a family to me." Tomally walks the royalties outside and is greeted by the four guards standing beside the door. She abruptly stops as soon as she remembers something. "_Goodness!_ I forgot to give you these!" The baker swiftly rushes inside and returns with three large baskets of krumkaker cookies.

"Oh my..." Elsa gasps as Jack—being a gentleman—quickly takes the baskets from Tomally since it seems too heavy for the old woman. He then hands them to the guards. "I actually forgot Anna wanted these. Thank you so much."

"Of course, she does." Tomally snorts. "Good thing I know you and your sister inside and out."

"That is true." Elsa giggles. " I shall see you soon."

"Thank you for the krumkaker." Jack adds and earns a happy nod from Tomally. As soon as they begin walking, Jack peeks from his shoulder and smiles at Tomally who's lifting her thumbs for him. He makes a mental note to ask Elsa to tell more of Queen Iduna's childhood friend.

They finally reach Erling's Flower Shop which is only two houses away. Erling is an older man who sells flowers in remembrance of his deceased wife. He cares deeply for nature and is really selective with the flowers which he sells. He was once pulling carts through the streets of Arendelle until Elsa decided to build him his own shop. The castle had always called upon his service just like the sunflowers on Anna's birthday, the floral bows for the holidays, the artsy hanging potted flowers for the engagement ball, and so much more. The shop is not as big as Tomally's bakery, but it has more windows. Jack admires the bright and relaxing atmosphere the store permits, considering the many windows are fundamental since the flowers need a proper amount of sunlight to grow.

Erling begins to feed the two royalties with his floral decoration concepts. Elsa continues to admire Erling's work more and more. Jack, on the other hand, learns Elsa's favorite flower. He notices how her eyes gleam at the mention of purple heather. He assumes her liking is based on her ability to conjure winter, how the flowers actually manage to survive during the season. Jack spends most of his time sitting on the empty chair, watching Elsa conversing with Erling and his other workers who are tending the flowers. He smiles at the workers' matching aprons which they claim as Elsa's gifts for the flower shop's anniversary, it's a beautiful apron with yellow trim and embroidered with red roses.

Elsa informs Jack about her choice of flowers. Aside from purple heather, Elsa also takes admiration in white roses and lilies. Jack only nods since he doesn't have a good taste in flowers and finds interest in the flowers, too. Besides, they remind him of snow. After the order is settled, Elsa and Jack prepare their leave as Erling wishes the couple good luck for the wedding and happiness for their marriage. The old man then resumes his work.

* * *

"So, where are we going tomorrow?" Jack asks and takes another krumkaker from the large three baskets—one for the four guards who accompany them, one for Anna, and one for both of them.

Elsa swallows her third krumkake of the day and leads Jack to an empty bench nearby since the prince insisted to take a few minutes layoff. "We're not going anywhere. We will have a pretty tight schedule in the castle."

"_Right_. A boring meeting with Count Eirik and Count Gregory and another boring schedule of sitting arrangements planning."

"And there are more than 20 lords and ladies who refused to sit next to the other."

"_Oh_, _joy_." Jack grumpily munches his krumkaker and Elsa only laughs at his pout, which she finds amusingly adorable.

They continue to talk about a lot of things until Jack's rumbling stomach stops Elsa from her usual Anna stories. The young queen tries to ease Jack's embarrassment by saying she's equally hungry and suggesting them to eat at the Borgbro inn, the inn Jack once settled in. As soon as the couple and the four guards make their ways inside, every single person inside the inn bows and curtsies in respect. Elsa and Jack are brought to the largest table at the front when the guards take the table beside the royals and buy some drinks. Jack becomes more and more comfortable because he knows some of the people inside and starts a conversation with some of them. Elsa smiles as she watches him while finishing her soup. She has always adored this side of Jack, how he blends in more with ordinary people.

"Old man and Queen Elsa!" The couple startles when a boy sprints to their table and bows quickly after. The young prince definitely recognizes him—the child who was once covered in cookie dough and addressed him as an _old man_—and the queen waves at the familiar face—the child is one of the maids' sons who likes to play in the castle.

"Hello, Leif." Elsa smiles as the boy draws closer, cheekily smiling at the couple. "What were you saying? _Old man?_" Elsa asks as she looks up at Jack who's gesturing to his hair. The queen giggles at the message.

"You didn't tell me you would marry an _old man!_"

"He is not an old man, Leif. Having white hair doesn't always make a person old." The young queen explains while handing him some of her krumkaker cookies.

"_Oh_..." Leif eagerly nods and eats the krumkaker. "I wanted to ask old man—I mean...uh..."

"_Prince Jack_." Elsa laughs as Leif keeps glancing between the couple.

"_Prince Jack_...if he wants to eat the cupcakes we make again."

Elsa shoots Jack a look, watching how he beams at Leif's request. "You baked more with your friends?" She wonders about the first encounter of the two.

"Yes! Just like how Queen Elsa taught us! _Oh!_ Queen Elsa _should_ come, too!" The couple stares at each other, but Jack only shrugs and gives Elsa the full authority to make the decision. Elsa returns to look at Leif.

"I'm sorry, Leif...We still have something to do." The moment the word _sorry_ came out, Leif's face turns downwards as he looks down at his shoes. Elsa immediately regrets her words and tries to think of something to lighten up the poor boy's mood.

"Do you and your friends have any plans for the next Saturday, kiddo?" Jack beats up to her as he crouches down to the kid's level.

"No...Usually, we stay at home with our parents, but they will have extra work for the wedding." Elsa shrinks even more in guilt. Of course, everyone in the kingdom will be preparing for the big day. She not only hurts the little boy's feeling but also takes away his time with his parents, _possibly the other kids as well_. She only _needed _to say yes to make the boy feel better, _yet_ she _didn't_.

"Well, what do you say about baking more cupcakes in the castle?" Jack exclaims and grips Leif's arms. "You and your friends will make cupcakes for the wedding! Queen Elsa will show you more tricks, just like cracking the eggs and spinning the dough!" He eagerly suggests and glances at Elsa who's seemed bewildered by the idea. She's also left astonished on how Jack remembers the details in their to-do list. She just realizes they will have an empty schedule the next weekend starting from lunch.

"_Wow!_ We will make cupcakes for the wedding?"

"_Yep!_ You guys will have a baking mission for the wedding!"

"_Woah!_" Leif jumps and claps his hands happily. "That is so _cool!_ I will tell my friends!"

"Go on, kiddo." Jack chuckles and ruffles Leif's dirty blonde hair. "We'll see you at the weekend after lunch, alright? Make sure you and your friends eat already. This baking mission requires a _lot_ of energy."

"We will! Thank you so much, old—_I mean_—Prince Jack!" Laughter escapes from Jack's mouth as he goes back to his chair. "Thank you so much, Queen Elsa!" The young queen nods and caresses the boy's cheek, telling him to be careful on his way out.

"I hope you don't mind about that." Jack slightly smiles at Elsa and resumes his lunch.

"I'm rather thankful, Jack." Elsa sighs in relief as she looks down at her empty bowl that was once filled with chicken soup. "That was smart. I didn't even remember we won't have anything after lunch next weekend."

"Well, when you're too busy remembering the things that needed to be done, I memorize all the free schedules." Elsa laughs at Jack's reply.

"You're also extremely good at handling children." The young queen continues.

Jack sheepishly smiles and rests his back on the chair. "Well, I love kids and adore two qualities that they possess, _honesty_ and _innocence_. They are amazing because—_one_—they're still young and the society pretty much accepts everything that they say, making them have this carefree side that's _really_ fun to hang out with, and—_two_—their minds are still so _pure_, far away from all those manipulative thoughts. I guess that's why I'm so happy around them. I have plenty of younger friends back in the Northern Isles and I get used to their nature, so I can pretty much understand them—such as how they _love_ being _valued_. That's why I made up the baking mission for Leif and his friends. Kids are happy when they are ordered to do something special."

Elsa remains in utter silence, listens carefully to every single word slipping from his lips, and paints Jack's bewitching smile inside her head as he keeps going on and on, depicting his love for children.

_His love for children_.

Elsa suddenly stiffens. For someone who loves children as much as _that_, of course someday he would _want_ to have _his own_, right?

_And by saying his own...that means her own as well..._

Elsa quickly clears her throat and smiles at him as soon as Jack stops from talking. "So, mind telling me how Leif called you an _old man_ for the first time?" She drives herself away from that thought, making Jack talk about something else.

Now, it's Jack's turn to laugh. Shaking his head, he begins reciting the moments of how Leif caught him almost ruining a certain ice cream cake and the real reason why he was late for the engagement ball.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**HELLO, PEOPLE~ I finally updated the story! I'm sorry this chapter is a little boring, just wanna explore Arendelle a bit and slowly building Jelsa's relationship! Hope you enjoy it nonetheless! **

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- ****Tomally is a canon character from '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**' who is a baker in Harmon, a village outside of Arendelle, though in this story she is a baker in Arendelle  
****\- Erling is also a character from '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**', he sells flowers with his cart, but in this story he owns a flower shop  
****\- Krumkaker is a famous Norwegian waffle cookie, usually served with ice cream, and is a personal favorite to King Agnarr and Queen Iduna according to '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**'  
****\- Marius, leader of Arendelle's militia, is my original character  
****\- Based on '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**', Elsa's favorite flower is purple heather**

**Thank you so much for the many follows, favs, and reviews! I'm so happy I've finally reached 100 favorites now, you are all truly wonderful and supportive! I hope I can update faster next time~**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	15. Chapter 14

_**Thoughts**_

* * *

**Too fast. **Everything is going _too_ _fast_, especially for Elsa's liking.

Five days of preparation flew just like _that_. She's currently in the middle of a brief meeting with Count Eirik and Count Gregory to update the wedding's progress from the last five days. Jack, on the other hand, is in charge of delivering the finalized list for the wedding's catering. Gabriella, the finest caterer in the kingdom, will do the honor to dine the guests with her elegant main courses and beverages—although Egil and Olina will participate in the dishes as well. Yesterday, Elsa had also listed the guests' preferred dishes and allergies towards specific ingredients with Jack. They finally came up with the ideal menu and decided for Jack to deliver it to Gabriella, leaving Elsa to handle the meeting with the council.

Being a perfectionist, Elsa writes down all of their advancements and divides the stack of papers in chronological order. Count Eirik and Count Gregory comment on a few minor details and recommend some little changes, though they also congratulate the queen and the future king for their miraculous teamwork. They didn't really expect the couple to get things done so quickly. The two counts are rather impressed on how well they work together. Because of the marvelous preparation update, the meeting ends up short as Count Eirik and Count Gregory exit the castle. The queen is obviously in delight with so little feedback and very positive notion from the counts, but she's far too uptight about this whole process.

_She's only nine days away from her marriage._

Actually, Elsa can feel herself slowly agreeing to this arranged marriage and manages to see the bright side of it, all thanks to Jack and everyone who have been unbelievably supportive.

_Although_, there's this _one _specific matter that hasn't stopped clouding her mind from the past few days.

Five full days of getting Jack to interact more with the citizens and also the people who work in the castle is a total success. When Elsa had to spend three years memorizing the people's names, Jack only needed five days to memorize half of the kingdom's population, especially the _kids_—not to mention he got himself far too attached to those adorable little humans. Upon seeing how easily Jack converses with the children, Elsa can't seem to let the word _child_ out of her head.

_She and Jack._

_Married._

_Wedding night._

_A babe._

_The heir to the Arendelle throne._

Elsa can feel her senses exploding to a million pieces. Producing an _heir_ is, of course, one of the main ideas of this marriage purpose. Having a king and a queen ruling over Arendelle and setting the perfect precedent to her citizens is not only the lacking law Elsa needs to go through, but having an _heir_ is also the other core reason. The young queen only has _nine days left_ to prepare herself. She will not only be queen, but also a wife—possibly a _mother_—and the length of _nine days_ is all it takes to accept that one life-changing destiny.

Is she _really_ ready to accept _all_ _this?_

"Elsa?" Anna pops up from the door with a big grin on her face, but that curve of her lips immediately vanishes after she spotted her sister in such a troubled state. "Okay, what's wrong?" She slowly makes her way to Elsa's desk and drags an empty chair to sit beside her, close enough to hold the queen in comfort.

Elsa lets out her breath before responding. "I'm just feeling a little off with this wedding preparation."

Noticing the half-lie from the tone of her older sister's voice and sensing how she doesn't want to talk about it any further, Anna only nods and tenderly caresses Elsa's hand. "You have survived this far, sis. You can totally nail this!"

"I needed that. Thank you." Anna's bright personality is enough to make her feel better.

"Alright. Now, since you always triple-check everything, why don't you tell me about the progress from the past few days? And in case you forgot a thing or two to report the council."

The young queen only laughs and does as her sister commands anyway. She is grateful, however. She needs something to distract her mind from the previous dilemma. "Well..." Elsa grabs the thickest scroll and spreads it out on the desk. She begins reviewing the checked points. "We've ordered the pastries and all the flower frills. We've arranged the seats for the guests—right after the council confirmed the list of guests that will be attending the wedding—and the menu is based on their affinities. We've told Kai and Gerda about the banners and other things regarding the castle's preparation. Later after lunch, you and I have settled the desserts for Olina and Vera to handle."

"The _best_ choices of desserts," Anna adds in.

"Except for the fact that they are all chocolates and I had to add two more choices outside chocolate for the guests who are allergic to it."

"_Poor, unfortunate souls_." Anna playfully shakes her head as her remark sends Elsa to laughter.

"Okay, while we were dealing with the desserts, Jack took care of the venue. He wanted outdoor space, so he talked to Kai about having the wedding ceremony at the garden and reception at the courtyard. Fortunately, Kai gave his full go."

Anna gasps in excitement and bounds on her chair. "I like that!"

"Yes." Elsa nods in agreement. "Thinking about it again, the chapel is not a really good idea for an _icy surprise_."

"_What?!_" Anna's hysteria has totally reached its peak.

"Well, ever since I showed him my powers and told him why I was so hesitant to reveal it to new faces, he genuinely understood and never brought up the topic unless it was me who did at first." Elsa smiles. "Early on Wednesday morning, I asked him about the wedding theme and he gave the question back to me."

"So charming—putting the lady first." Anna jumps on her seat once again.

There's no way the young queen can deny that rather than blushing furiously. "I told him I wanted a winter-themed wedding." Jumping again, the princess squeals in delight.

_Of course, duh._

"Luckily, Jack has a thing for the season as well. He agreed and we started talking about the overall design. We decided to summon Marte and ask for her service to sort all the details for the design. After that, I wondered if I could do something with my powers. He reminded me to not do anything that will cause me any discomfort, knowing that a bigger audience—who may or may not know about my powers—will be present at the wedding. Then he told me he'd remembered how I left everyone agape with the little show at the courtyard. He urged me to do it again because everyone seemed to love it, as long as I would be fine with it though."

"_And then?_" Anna carves a toothy grin.

"I said I would give it a try." Elsa nods, trying to keep an open mind to all this.

"_Then?_"

"That was it. He mentioned he would always support my decision. After that, you came into the room and volunteered to help me with dessert sampling."

"Oh, _right._" Anna's smile fades.

_So, Jack hasn't said anything about his powers?_

Anna slumps back to her seat but manages to smile despite her slight disappointment. Well, it's kind of obvious though. If Jack had told Elsa about his winter ability, Elsa would already tell her by now. She wonders what's keeping Jack so long to tell the truth.

_Ain't the sooner the better?_

Anna decides to slide that topic and focuses on helping Elsa keep in track with her preparation. "And later that night, we called for Gerda and brainstormed the layout of the cake! It was _so _much fun!"

"And how you wanted it to have _five_ layers."

Anna blows her bangs and playfully crosses her arms. "Hey, I was _excited_. We agreed with three anyway."

Elsa teasingly rolls her eyes. "Two days ago, we booked the room reservations for the guests. We discussed the specified needs for the guests with the supervisor of the guest services. We also stopped by at Berg's Sweet Shop and handed Vera the fixed layout for the cake. She agreed to make it a chocolate ice cream cake."

"_Of course_, she wouldn't want to fail me." Anna cockily grins. Vera Berg is the current owner of Berg's Sweetshop. She and her family have been running the business for _years_. The Bergs have a specialty in pouring magic into their chocolate. The royal sisters are their favorite customers. The _Sugar Rush_ cookies for Elsa's coronation is one of their top-notch sales. Two years ago, Anna decided to reward the family with a taffy-pulling machine and ice cream maker in which Anna had unintentionally got the machinery from Oaken. Vera has been creating taffy candies and ice cream cake ever since.

"She wouldn't want you to destroy her shop once you found out she hadn't fulfilled your wish."

"Okay, _moving on!_ Onto the fifth day's progress!"

"We had Elise portraying our wedding attire. She also brought Erik to help since she insisted the outfits should remain a secret from both the bride and groom. I shared some of the things that I wanted to have in my gown and she put it all perfectly. Jack, too, was impressed by Erik's final sketch. They measured our body sizes and contacted Elin to prepare the fabrics. They said they would come back five days before the wedding to see if the costumes work for us." Elise, Erik, and Elin are the famous siblings who all work as dressmakers. They are responsible for the royal family's beautiful gowns.

"Sounds exciting! You think you can give me a sneak peek of the sketch?"

"No." Elsa giggles and stands up from her chair, tidying the notes and scrolls all over the table and ignoring Anna's upset huff. "Berit will come to visit after lunch to discuss the wedding's finances. You are welcomed to join since you missed the wedding attire part." Elsa smirks, earning a scowl from Anna.

"I'm going to skip all the boring parts. I hope Jack survives though."

"He complains most of the night, but he can still finely keep up." Elsa can't help but laugh, picturing Jack's silly pout and all the jokes he made about this exhausting wedding preparation. She stops as she remembers the counts' notice for Jack. "Oh! I almost forgot—Jack's lessons start tomorrow."

"_Lessons?_"

"Jack needs to know how Arendelle works if he's going to take his place as king."

"You mean he's going to take the lessons we've mastered when we were young?"

"Yes. I'll have to summon Erlingur to help him with the brief history of Arendelle and Kai to educate him with the kingdom's policies."

"_Oh!_ I miss Erlingur!" Anna jumps down from the chair and links her arms around Elsa's. Erlingur was the tutor of Anna and Elsa when they were little. He managed to make history an interesting subject for the two princesses, especially Anna because Elsa had always been pumped to learn and read books. Now, he works as a teacher at Arendelle's local school. "You think I can accompany Jack with his lessons? I want to hang out with Erlingur!"

Elsa gives Anna a look. "Do you promise you'll help and _not _the _other _way around?"

"_Come on_, Elsa! Have a little faith in me!"

The queen surrenders to her sister's puppy eyes. "Alright. Jack needs something to keep him out of boredom anyway, _but_ you can only keep him company with his last three sessions." Elsa will never forget how distracting Anna can be during their classes when they were kids. Anna cheers and begins to recall the happy memories of their history lessons with Erlingur, how she remembers Elsa—being the perfect and inspirational big sister she is—was always ahead of her and she would ask Elsa to freeze Erlingur's tea.

After a while, Kristoff comes to pick Anna because they—along with Olaf and Sven—are going to visit Marshmallow and the other Snowgies. Olaf has been requesting for a reunion with his snow family. Elsa reminds them to be safe and have fun before returning to her work, organizing all the papers on her desk. Jack returns the next hour, with a basket full of Tomally's chocolate krumkaker to boost Elsa up. The queen gives out her thanks and starts telling him about the schedule of his lessons. She giggles at Jack's pout for the hundredth time but appreciates him for agreeing to it. When the sun hits the zenith, both royalties have their lunch and wait for Berit's arrival. The kingdom's treasurer arrives shortly as they return to Elsa's study and begin calculating the expenditure of the wedding. By the time the noon begins, Berit has wished the couple the best of luck and returned to her place.

Elsa and Jack then call for Gerda to update them with the wedding rentals and Marte to give them her finalized design for both the ceremony and the reception. Gerda informs them of the Chiavari chairs, linens, flower gates—all thingamabobs for the garden are ready to set, though the gardeners are still working on the plants to create more space for the guests. Gerda reassures the couple the garden will be ready by tomorrow and the seats can be placed near the due date. The tables and its clothes, candles, silverware, and such are also ready to be placed on the courtyard where the wedding reception takes place.

Afterwards, Marte presents the wintery design the couple wished for. Elsa is extremely delighted with the concept and promises to help with her magic. Seeing Elsa's satisfied smile, Jack applies a happy smile as well. The four begin to coordinate the placements of the wedding rentals and all its finishing touches as the meeting ends just before dinner. The couple dismisses both women and appreciates them for their help. After a few minutes of arranging the preparation documents, both clear their way to dine.

* * *

"We're back!" Anna barges into the dining room with a big grin on her face upon seeing her sister and her sister's fiancé already seated while talking happily to each other.

"And starving!" Olaf follows from behind with Kristoff in his hide. Anna and Olaf quickly place themselves beside Elsa and Jack. Kristoff, on the other hand, spares himself to get some carrots from the kitchen and feed Sven outside.

"So, how are you two today?" Anna asks while eating her pea soup.

"The usual boring stuff." Jack playfully shrugs, earning a giggle from Elsa, and glances at Olaf who's digging his fruit cake. "How about you guys? Any interesting stuff happened?"

"Oh! The sky had been awake before we got inside the castle!" Olaf beams and points at the window.

" 'The sky was awake?' "Jack bemusedly chuckles. "Never knew it actually slept."

Anna laughs at Jack's remark. "Well, when Elsa and I were little, I used to address the Northern Lights as a sign that the sky is awake. Our parents and nanny didn't give us the word for the beautiful lights back then, so I came up with something and got carried away with the saying ever since. Right, Elsa?"

Elsa chuckles. "Yes. I can see the habit passes to Olaf as well."

"Speaking of the Northern Lights, my family has something unique about it, too." Anna and Olaf grow excited as they scoot closer to Jack. "Whenever the lights are visible, all members of the royal family scurry their feet to the castle's old library which is now our little hangout place with this _huge _globe in the middle of the room and a couple of leather banquettes."

"Wow!" Olaf cannot hold his enthusiasm. "What are you guys doing in that room?"

"Many things! Though, usually, we invited the kids to play in the room. My brother, Sandy, would teach sign languages to them every Friday. My sister-in-law, Thiana, would educate them on how to take care of their teeth. I would invite them to play pillow fights and all the fun things!" There goes Jack's heart-swelling smile. It still fascinates Elsa how passionate he is towards kids.

_Kid. Child. Heir. _Elsa shakes her head and hurriedly dissolves the thought.

"That's _so_ exciting! I wish I can go there sometimes!" The snowman bounds enthusiastically.

"You will, Olaf. I'll take you guys there to meet my folks once our schedule is cleared." Olaf smiles happily and resumes eating his cake.

"I'm still wondering why you guys go to that room when you see the Northern Lights. Is it like...some sort of a family tradition?" The topic sparks Anna's interest. She always loves how families have their own special activities.

Jack nods and thinks for a moment before answering. "It all started with my mom. She renovated the library once she was crowned queen and turned it into a room where her family could spend some time together. Since we all have different schedules, my mom insisted whenever we saw the Northern Lights, we had to leave everything we were doing at the time and took a quick visit to the room."

Anna and Elsa look at each other and smile. They remember when North told him about his wife. The look on his face showed how much he loves her and Jack inherits that look. "What a wonderful mother." Anna turns back to him.

"She _is_." Jack nods joyfully, successfully hiding the stinging pain on his chest. He quickly looks at Elsa who's taking his hand under the table and giving it a soft squeeze. Jack smiles at her. "She would _love_ to see you." Elsa's heart warms at his sincere words.

"And I would love to see her." The queen gives her promise and feels Jack's thumb caressing the back of her hand.

"_Guys!_ Look who's back!" Kristoff yells as he enters the room, having someone tailing behind him. The four instantly turn their heads to the door.

"_Marius!_" Anna abruptly stands from her chair and runs to embrace the person standing beside her fiancé. Jack carefully examines the person in Arendelle's royal guard uniform, not noticing Elsa's fingers slowly slipping away from him. He is as built as Kristoff—though not more than an inch shorter—with a black slicked-back hair. His honey skin and bronze eyes compliment his appearance quite well. Jack recalls all the conversations that he shared with Elsa about the Lord Commander or Arendelle's Queensguard. General Marius was sent to Corona for two months to train the newly recruited troops. Marius has a remarkable record on the battlefield. His famous reputation in sending countless of contenders to the ground makes him an excellent teacher for any armed forces. Though he is fully responsible for Arendelle's guardsmen, Marius is mainly overseas since he's asked from here and there to train many kingdom's militias—plus, Arendelle is a peaceful kingdom and never gets involved in a war anyway. Elsa was the one who encouraged him to go when he was a bit hesitant to leave his queen and his kingdom.

"You're back early!" Keeping her arms around the young man's hip, Anna looks up to Marius who's giving her his dashing smile.

"Coronas are all fast learners and the sea is kind for the last days." Marius chuckles and pats Anna's head lovingly. His voice comes out deep with a lace of gentleness within. The knight lifts his other hand who's holding a neatly wrapped box with a beautiful magenta ribbon on top. "The princess sends you her pie."

"_Oh my God!_" Anna pulls her hands from Marius as she swiftly accepts the gift and begins unwrapping the goodness. Kristoff rushes to Anna's aid while chuckling to his own amusement.

"Welcome home, Sir Marius." The knight's dashing smile broadens as soon as it's the queen's turn to greet him. Elsa doesn't hesitate to embrace him the way her sister did, though less suffocating, and the knight swiftly gives in to the hug. Jack holds back the urge to flinch as the knight places his chin on top of Elsa's head.

And for some reason, Jack _doesn't like_ how the knight places _his hands_ on _Elsa's back_.

"It's nice to see you again, My Queen." Marius whispers on her _hair_—something that Jack will _not miss_—as Elsa slowly pulls away with a relieved smile on her face.

"Good evening, sir!" Olaf comes over, standing straight in front of the knight.

"At ease, snow soldier." Marius kneels to the saluting Olaf. Snow soldier is the position Marius rewarded Olaf with when he had to go abroad for the first time. He told the snowman he'd needed someone to protect the queen during his absence. Olaf was extremely up for that role—claiming that such responsibility might help him to be more mature. "What's your report? Was there any trouble?"

"Sir, no sir! There has been no sign of Snowgies for the past six weeks!" Olaf responds, loud and clear, with a serious expression on his face.

"Good job, soldier. You did a good job taking care of our queen." Marius glances up at Elsa who's smiling down at the two. "You are dismissed." Olaf happily nods and joins Anna who's cheerily munching the sliced chocolate pie. Marius gets up and returns to Elsa. "That means you didn't over-stress yourself, My Queen. I'm glad." He gives her that charming smile again.

Jack unconsciously twitches his lips in annoyance when he sees Elsa's cheeks turning to the slightest red.

"I've had a lot of help recently," Elsa gestures the knight to follow her as she stops beside Jack who's now standing. "Sir Marius, let me introduce you to Prince Jack of the Northern Isles, my fiancé."

Marius smiles at the young prince and bows. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness. Queen Elsa wrote to me about the engagement. Congratulations to the both of you."

Jack slides all the tingling thoughts about Marius aside and offers him a handshake. "It's nice to finally see you in person, too, Sir Marius. Elsa told me many great things about you and, please, just call me Jack."

Marius looks at Jack's extended arm, to Jack's eyes, to the nodding Elsa, then to Jack again. He finally accepts the friendly gesture. "Marius for me then." He smiles at the prince once last time before turning to the queen. "Your Majesty, I believe we have important _matters_ to discuss in _private_."

Jack startles a bit after he caught the knight's small smirk in his direction when he emphasized the last word.

"Of course, to my study then." Elsa nods and turns to Jack. "I'll send Kai to inform you about your lessons. I'll be back soon." The queen smiles and waves a little at Jack who simply nods.

"_Jack._" Marius smirks and bows at Jack before escorting the queen to her study. Catching his somewhat teasing demeanor, Jack's skeptical thoughts about Marius raises once again. Jack holds the urge to give the knight a death glare as he takes the queen's hand in his. Silently growling, Jack goes back to his seat and plays with his food instead of eating it. He doesn't realize he shows all of his grudge on his face until Kristoff coughs loudly at the end of the table. Jack's head tilts up from his half-eaten chicken steak and spots three familiar faces suspiciously staring at him.

"_What?_" The young prince cluelessly asks, questioning the strange smiles plastered on their faces. He fails to hide the sourness of his voice.

"We saw you." Anna giggles and puts down the empty spoon she had been holding.

"I can't understand that." Jack raises his brow in annoyance. "Seriously, what is it?"

"_Oh_, nothing really." Kristoff grins and tries his best to hold his laughter. "Just feeling how the temperature drops a few degrees."

Jack still doesn't get it. He shrugs it off and continues eating. He lifts his fork and is about to put the sliced chicken steak into his mouth but stops midway. He groans as the three of them are _still_ staring at him with those stupid smiles. "Will you guys _cut it out?_ Is something wrong?"

"_He doesn't know_." Olaf whispers, loud enough for Jack to hear.

"Yep,_ he doesn't._" Anna seconds that.

"_Totally_ _doesn't._" Kristoff nods in agreement.

Jack glares at them. "Okay, I'm being _really_ serious right now. _What is it?_" He impatiently asks and resumes eating his steak.

"Alright, Olaf. You're the expert." Anna nudges the snowman as Olaf fixes his buttons and straightens himself. Olaf coughs and coughs again as if he's preparing himself for a formal speech. Jack waits to hear the snowman's point while finishing his food.

"I believe you, Jack, are currently suffering from a disease called _jealousy type one_." Olaf looks at Kristoff from his peripheral vision. "Am I saying it, right?"

Jack is so close to spitting out his food.

_Jealousy?_

As in _jealous_ kind of _jealousy_?

_He can't possibly...?_

He swallows the last bite of the steak and calmly replies. "What do you mean by _jealousy?_ And what in the world is _jealousy type one?_"

"Oh, this is no random assumption, Jack," Anna speaks while munching the chocolate pie. "We saw how your brows arched when Elsa and Marius shared a hug."

"We saw how your lips twitched when they went to leave the dining room together," Olaf adds.

"And we saw how your eyes burned holes on Marius' back when they held hands walking out of the door." Kristoff ends the proof. "You, my friend, are far deep in _jealousy type one_—the disease which attacks those who usually happen to experience _it _for the first time."

Before Jack could ever respond, Anna continues. "And that _it _is one of the main roots to cause _jealousy_. The strong feeling of_ love_."

_This conversation is totally getting out of hand_, Jack mumbles inside his head.

_Does he...?_

_No, absolutely not._

"Guys—first of all—you guys are over-analyzing things and—second of all—you guys are making no sense at all. I am certainly _not_ jealous."

"_Denial_ is the first symptom of _jealousy type one_." Olaf intersects.

"_What?_"

"_Blushing_ is the second," Anna states facts.

"Whoa, _hold up_. I—I _don't_—"

"And _stuttering_ makes the third." Kristoff cuts.

Jack halts, completely bewildered with everything they say.

_Does he really—_

_No! Of course, not!_

"Okay, I'm taking my leave because you guys are acting so weird." With the red crimson face, Jack awkwardly chuckles and stands up from his seat, making them laugh at his reluctant behavior.

"Jack?" The prince hates himself for turning around and looking straight into Kristoff's know-it-all face. "The first cure to _jealousy type one_ is _admittance_." He informs in his—surprisingly good—singing voice.

Jack shakes his head and rolls his eyes before exiting the dining room. He can still hear Anna's faint voices protesting Kristoff how she wasn't educated with the _admittance_ thing, Olaf's small squeals demanding the mountain guy to tell him more about _love expert_ stuff, and Kristoff's tickled laughter.

The moment he arrives inside his and Elsa's bedroom, Jack sighs and restlessly lays his body on his pillow fort on the floor. Eyes glued on the ceiling, he slowly pieces Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf's sentences along with all the mixed feelings he had occurred upon seeing Elsa and Marius being incredibly close to each other. His mind is falling all over the place, and his heart is irregularly beating against his own control.

If he _really _is sick with this _jealousy type one_ disease, is he ready to try the _cure?_

_To admit something as gallant as love towards someone?_

Jack can only wait for the time to answer.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Hi, my dearest readers! Here is another update from yours truly! I've been busy with stuff nowadays and tons of essays to be done now that holiday is only three weeks away...so sorry for the late update—as usual. **

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Gabriella is actually a canon character in '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**', but Anna only mentioned her name, so I decided to make her a caterer in the story  
****\- Vera is the owner of Berg's Sweetshop based on '**_**Frozen Adventures Game'  
**_**\- Elise, Erik, and Elise are actually hens in '**_**Conceal, Don't Feel**_**', but I made them dressmakers here  
****\- This book is pure Rise of the Guardians and Frozen crossover, but Corona actually exists in the Frozen world based on '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**'  
****\- The idea of Jack's family tradition originally came from the Guardians' thing in '**_**Rise of the Guardians**_**' to assemble at the North Pole once North makes the Northern Lights signal  
****\- The kingdom of Corona literally exists in the Frozen world according to '**_**Forest of Shadows**_**'**

**Thank you so much for the many reviews, follows, and faves! I have no idea why this book can grow so fast. I'm so thankful to have each and every one of you 3**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	16. Chapter 15

_**Author's Greeting**_

**HENLO! In honor of Desired Destiny's 90 reviews celebration (it may not seem important but it means the world to me and I gotta do something about it thank you), I decided to add an "_Author's Greeting_" from now on and respond to all of your reviews! Though I will ONLY answer questions and those that need further explanation about this story.  
**

**FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS! 3**

**Before that, I really wanna thank people at Discord who also happened to be Authors or experts of FFNet for helping me with basically everything about FFNet. I have _no _idea how to search a story, write a review, let alone the _actual functions _of favorites and follows oh my God****—perks of joining this fanfiction world in early 2020, I'm such a newbie to FFNet, so please forgive my stupidity lol...And I also recently found out authors respond to reviews this way, by posting them before the actual chapter, so I'm gonna follow the legends' path!**

**So, without any further ado, let's start now! (I'm going to start responding from the very first reviews in Chapter 0 all the way to Chapter 14, so bear with me heheh)**

**_EmoPrincess21_: ****will Jack have his ice power or just Elsa or will he have control over a different nature power like thunder and lightning.  
**Hi there! Ooooh if you look closely at the "real" Jack in the movie a.k.a Rise of the Guardians, he has not only ice power but also the other winter abilities! He also kinda shot a lightning at Pitch so I think the elements you mentioned there are included in this story, though I, the author herself, can't really confirm what's going to happen because _eh I haven't finished the story and also haven't thought about it further hehe. _Thank you for your curiosity tho!

_**bella**_**_ zurin_: if you're worried about grammar mistakes and such, you can get a beta reader to help you double check before you post.  
**Ooooh, I def need this "_Beta Reader_" to help me with this story. I wonder how can we do that? Thanks for the suggestion thoughh!

**_Guest_: ****The same parental figures you mean?  
**Ohh, I was referring to Kai and Gerda, and I don't think it's the "same" parental figures because they can't ever replace Daddy Agnarr and Mommy Iduna3

**_Guest_: ****One thing to improve for your grammar is your verb tense is all over the place. Are you going for past or present? I'd love to help you get them uniform.  
**AAAA YES this happened that time when I forgot to add the horizontal lines on some chapters, oh my God, I was so stupid, soooo sorry for the confusion! However, this story will feature a lot of flashbacks, that's why the main tenses for this story is _present tense _so it's easier for people to differentiate it with the past tenses! Ohh, I'm also _extremely bad at English_ and _I know nothing about grammar_, I'd be over the moon if you could help me with my writing skill! Thank you so much for being kind enough to tell me this!

**_Guest_: L****ove isn't a feeling, it's an action. A choice. Feelings come and go are are based on selfish whims, but the choice to care for someone even when they're being difficult, that's love. There are times when you feel nothing but anger towards those you love, and that's because no matter what you feel, love is choosing to continue to care. I****f you base you're love on feeling, you will live a very selfish life, because no feeling lasts forever. You will abandon your children, divorce your spouse, and leave your parents in elderly care homes to die alone, because no one ALWAYS feels like sacrificing their time and efforts for others.****  
**This is beautiful, _honestly beautiful. _Thank you so much for sharing your perspective of what love is, I _truly _adore this! You have such a beautiful mind! However, I have my own purpose as to why I "base" love as a "feeling" in this story because it's actually connected to the other parts of the story! That's why I choose the concept—but I agree with yours, too! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and I do hope you continue to do so!

**_Gameer98_: what about Hans or pitch black I know that they won't have powers well some will but not so much.  
**Ahhh, this is a Frozen/RotG crossover after all, you may look forward to those characters but I can't give you any guarantees though!

**_LivininCorsets_: I recommend this on the Discord channel!  
**WHAAAT? YOU _DID? _THANK YOU SO MUCH FAM! I'm soo happy whenever people recommend my story to other peeps, oh my God that means so much to me! Thank you for what you did! I LOVE YOU GAHHHFW

**_FROST-JJ_: Wait, German? Germany exist in this time?  
**Absolutely NOT. OH MY GOD. I'm being my stupid self and you're being genius and kind and observant for noticing that heck of a lack—tHE LACK OF HISTORICAL CONTENT, OH MY GOD. You know, I always slept during history classes and my teacher had to snatch my phone away many times which explains my lack of knowledge with basically _everything _in this story. Oh my God. THANK YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK FOR TELLING ME THIS! I fixed it already in Chapter 12 and changed it to Corona instead! Again, thank you so so so so much for noticing that mistake! I'm so lucky to have a reader like you!

**_Guest004_: So I'm guessing that Marius is an OC?  
**Yes, he is! He's going to be a very interesting character and you just gotta love him 3

**And for the rest of the reviews: Thank you. Thank you so so so much for your kind words and wonderful opinions for this book. You are all soooo thoughtful and I'm so blessed to have every single one of you reading this undrafted, messed up story of mine. I hope you are all patient enough to follow the journey until the very end!**

**Ohkay, I hate to hold you all any longer, so let's move on to the real thing! Enjoy Chapter 15, y'all!**

* * *

_**Confession**_

* * *

**What's wrong with me?**

Slamming his face on one of the many Arendelle's records he has to finish, Jack inaudibly grunts and curses himself for not being able to focus. Ever since that Marius guy arrived in the castle three days ago, the young prince has been _restless_. He keeps feeling odd upon seeing Elsa spending more and more time with that knight, discussing God knows what.

The worst part is, Elsa _literally laughs_ at his _corny jokes._

_Yes. _Jack eavesdropped many times. _He couldn't help it._

Well, partially it's _his_ fault.

Jack can't seem to look at his fiancée in the eye and talk to her without lamely stuttering as he used to after Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf diagnosed him with _jealousy type one_, figuratively accusing him in a _falling in love _state. Now, he wakes up early in the morning to hide in the library—waiting for his tutor to educate him with Arendelle whatzits—and shies himself away from Elsa whenever they stumble upon each other.

Thinking about it again, he realizes he _does_ like Elsa. Everything he does—starting from the day he befriended her until this very second—is to make her happy. He does whatever it takes to keep her at her most comfortable state. He thinks of new, interesting topics just to make her laugh every day.

_And her laugh is the most adorable thing ever._

Jack jerks from his seat at the immense heat that's rising to his cheeks. His action doesn't go unnoticed by the old man sitting in front of him.

"What is the cause of your stupefaction, Jack?" Erlingur glances at Jack who's edgily shifting on his chair and nervously fixing his collar.

"It's nothing, Er." Jack gives his teacher a curt smile and tries to stick his nose to the book.

Erlingur—of course—does _not_ buy that. He has met zillions of students as a lecturer. He knows perfectly well something is pestering the prince's mind since their second day together. It's obvious to detect any slight disturbance in the prince's features due to his usual bright personality, recalling how friendly Jack was while welcoming him on the first day.

The first lesson was an entertaining sight. The prince kept fuming about reading tons of pages and endlessly complaining because some of the words written on the records of Arendelle's family tree were very hard to understand. Jack was being hilariously annoying with his series of complaints, but he still obeyed every single word coming out from the old man.

The more Erlingur gets to know Jack, the more he treats the young lad as his own son. He doesn't have the opportunity to meet a happy-go-lucky and golden-hearted prince like Jack of the Northern Isles that often—and, perhaps, it's because he also is used to handling kids, being a teacher in Arendelle's school and a tutor to little Elsa and Anna as his tutees decades ago. He likes having students who are young or—at least—act _younger_ than their biological age.

Erlingur's care towards the prince escalated fast as he paid more attention to Jack on the second day. They spent the first hour of the morning session recalling the highlights of yesterday's lesson and studied the kingdom's renowned servants, guards, merchants, and some other influential citizens in the evening class. It only took him seconds to grasp the fact that Jack wasn't as bright as he was before. Erlingur saw how he threw fewer squeaks of protest—only yammering on how he needed to remember tons of names—and pushed himself to focus on his reading _in order_ to steer him away from _something _that was haunting his mind.

As the days passed, he got marginally _worse_. Jack managed to review the previous day's lesson nicely in the morning with nearly zero complaints—which _isn't_ Jack at all. It was strange to admit Erlingur missed his childish antics. The old man never knew the sight itched him that much.

Erlingur keeps his eyes plastered on the future king as he starts enunciating words, testing his little tryout. "Jack?"

The prince looks up from the book. "Uh, yeah?"

Erlingur shifts his position, granting himself full access to Jack's figure. He needs to make sure he is able to notice any slightest movement from his apprentice. "As a teacher, I have a few methods to restore my students' spirit in order to regain their consciousness to their study. I noticed you'd lost focus in your reading. Mind if I try one method on you? We still have a long day ahead of us."

Jack quickly nods. _This _is exactly what he needs. _Distraction_. "I'm ready. Just tell me what to do."

"I call this a _word association_ test. I will say one word and you will say the _first word _which comes to your mind about the word after I said it. For example, when I say sun, you can either say bright, yellow or morning—anything that emerges inside your head the second after. Do not think, just answer fast."

"Oh, I think I heard Olaf mentioned that test before..." Jack hums. "Alright, I'm ready when you are."

Erlingur begins. "_History_."

"Boring."

"_Home_."

"Family."

"_Loneliness._"

"Stopped." Erlingur purses his lips—wondering if he hits something—as he narrows down his search.

"_Surrounded_."

"People."

"_Citizens_."

"Humble."

"_Royalties_."

Jack's reaction time decreases. "Awkward." Erlingur grins upon receiving the seconds of silence.

"_Queen_."

"Respected." Earning another long silence before answering, Erlingur makes an impact.

"_Loved_."

Jack stops for the longest time and Erlingur _has_ his _answer_. Then, he strikes.

"Was the reason for your stupefaction being your surging love towards the Queen, Jack?"

Jack purses his lips shut and ties his tongue tight. Eyes piercing the book and ears trying to dodge Erlingur's question, Jack forces a cough and stands up. "I'm gonna get us some cookies—_God, I'm starving_."

"Sit down, Jack," Erlingur states as the prince gulps and slowly nods.

Jack chews the inside of his cheeks, feeling Erlingur's stares planted on his face, and knows he's totally cornered with no way out.

"Was the reason for your stupefaction being your surging love towards the Queen, Jack?"

Faking a laugh, Jack slowly dares himself to look back at his teacher. "I don't get what you're talking about."

"I've spent 60 years living in this world, Your Highness. I've encountered many things. I've read and seen _young love_. I can _very much _tell when I see one." Admitting his defeat, Jack lets the color red consumes his cheeks. "So, I assume the royal marriage is arranged." Jack flinches at Erlingur's statement. Nobody—aside from a couple of the castle's servants, the council, and the royal family—is supposed to know that. "_Which_ is something that needs to be applauded, actually. _Your acting_ is something that needs to be applauded—" Erlingur genuinely smiles. "For how you've blinded hundreds of people, including me, with the way _you look _at _our Queen_."

Jack freezes, dumbfounded and flabbergasted.

"I suppose you don't know, don't you?" The old man lowly chuckles and takes the empty spot beside the prince. "That you have fallen for our Queen_ from the start_."

Jack looks down at his shoes, fighting the stupid grin that's twitching his lips. "I guess." That is all his throaty voice can handle.

Erlingur chuckles at the young man and pats his back comfortingly. "Is it your first time feeling attracted to someone? Because—the way I see it—you're deliberately doubting it...as if you're inexperienced."

"I guess." Jack sighs and closes the book he has been holding. "I've never felt like this, Er. It's _so_—I don't know..._unnatural?_"

"_Correction_. Love is, _actually_, the most _natural_ thing that can happen to living things."

"Doesn't work for me then." The prince shrugs. "It makes me uncomfortable most of the time."

"Only because you are _denying_ it. People are either scared, confused, deviated, or agitated of the things they don't know. They often push those things away...just like how you deny the sensation's debut."

Jack bites his tongue. "Are you really sure this _thing_ that's confusing me is love?"

"60 years of life experience, Prince Jack. My words could form credible sentences."

Playing with the pages of the book he's holding, Jack looks down at his feet again. "Do you have like—I don't know—any recommendation on what I should do to manage all these odd kinds of feeling?"

Erlingur thinks for a moment before rising from his seat. "I've told you. Love is the most natural thing that happens to living things. However, living things are all different by hearts." The old man returns to his desk and lifts a thick history book of Arendelle. "Which means _love _happens _differently_ to _everyone_. How it strikes, how it blossoms, how it _thaws_—it depends on the individual who's _experiencing _it. Therefore, I cannot offer you an answer. I can only offer you a suggestion on how to deal with it." He returns to sit beside Jack.

"_Accept it_." He smiles. "The only reason why the most natural thing in this universe occurs unnaturally to _you_ is because of _your denial_ towards it. Accept it, Jack. Admit that your heart finally _beats _for _someone_." Erlingur ends his statement loud and clear as he gives Jack another book. Jack gives his tutor a small yet sincere smile and takes the book, the blush inhabiting his cheeks. "Now, I hope we are ready to go on with the class." Erlingur pauses and shortly glances at his apprentice. "Perhaps you need a glass of water. Our conversation is not so light after all."

Jack quickly nods and excuses himself. A giddy smile unbeknownst to him is painted on his face as his heart thumps faster than regular.

_I'm in love with Elsa._

* * *

"Hey." Elsa wakes up from her daze and finds Marius gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Are you tired? I can pend the reports until tomorrow."

"No, I'm alright." The queen awkwardly chuckles and straightens herself. Her focused eyes land back on the stack of papers from various kingdoms. Yesterday, she cleared the wedding preparations with the council, so she didn't need to write any report for the progress. She had also finalized everything. She had let Kai and Gerda keep up with the people who are involved in the wedding's preparations. All there's left for her now is to wait and return to the mountains of paperwork on her desk. She abandoned them for a week. "If I hang it once more, I will only sleep for a day."

"Alright, as long as you're good to go." Marius nods and continues his brief report about the troops of Arendelle. They are currently discussing the security on the wedding day, starting from patrol guards to the ones escorting the guests to the venue.

"I'm going to get some coffee." Elsa stands up from her chair.

"Why don't you just ring the maids?"

"I really want to walk. Hours of sitting do tire me."

Marius laughs and decides to take a break, too, as he relaxes himself on the couch. "Alright, My Queen. Whatever floats your blizzard."

Elsa shoots Marius a playful glare. "Do you want me to get you something? We have red wine."

"_Nah_. Wine is too classy for me. I still have plenty of rums in my barrack."

Elsa nods as she walks out of her study. She feels more comfortable after exiting the room which is the source of her stress for the day. She greets the castle's servants as she passes by hallways to the east side of the kitchen. The east side kitchen is way smaller than the main one because it's only for the maids to make simple drinks or snacks for the royalties—since the east side of the castle is where the royal chambers and other larger rooms are located, unlike the west side where the cooks prepare for the grand dishes. Elsa feels herself smiling widely as she spots Jack leaning his body on the counter. He seems to be relaxing with a cup of coffee after hours of lessons. She happily approaches him, feeling excited to see him for some bizarre reason. She rarely saw him in the past few days because he left their bedroom early for his lessons.

"Hi, Jack." Elsa casually greets him and expects a casual response from her fiancé, but—in reality—she receives an unusual one.

Jack almost spits his coffee as he swiftly turns around, backing the poor Elsa who's startled by his action. "Jack? Are you alright?"

"S—_sorry!_ I—I..._uh_..." Jack coughs as he slowly places the mug on the counter. "I didn't see you there..._haha_..." He murmurs and turns around to face Elsa, though his eyes refuse to look at hers.

_She unbelievably looks prettier than usual. Just—how?_

"You seem distorted, Jack," Elsa raises her hand to touch his forehead and check his body temperature, but Jack swiftly scoots away from her with heaving breathing and awkward chuckle.

"I'm fine! _Totally fine!_ And you look beautiful today!" Jack mentally smacks his head for his divulge.

_For God's sake—shut up, Jack. Shut the hell up._

"Thank you." Elsa, fortunately, doesn't take it seriously and laughs it off. "You look dashing as well, Jack." Elsa returns the compliment, triggering the shades of pink on Jack's pale cheeks.

"_Y_—_yes_." Jack scratches his neck and bashfully looks down at his feet, his body leaning against the counter.

"How's your lessons with Erlingur?" Elsa walks to stand beside him and makes a coffee of her own.

Jack blushes even more and takes another sip of his coffee. "So far so good."

"I'm glad to hear that. Erlingur was my teacher growing up—Anna's as well. He is the perfect person when it comes to history."

"I notice." Jack lightly chuckles and stares at Elsa who's elegantly pouring teaspoons of cocoa powder into her coffee.

_She's so beautiful. It's really hard not to stare._

"Has he given you any life lesson yet?" Elsa continues. "He used to give me and Anna a piece of life advice at the end of the session."

"He did," Jack answers nonchalantly, eyes not leaving her face.

"Mind telling me?" Elsa smiles and stirs the spoon to balance the components inside the cup.

"He told me that _love_ is the most natural thing that happens to living things," Jack utters quietly. "We have to _accept it_—admit it when our _heart _finally _beats _for _someone_."

Elsa turns her head, admiring the sincerity by the tone of his voice and the emotions shown in his eyes. "That's interesting. Usually, Erlingur asks for his student's opinion towards his statement. What's your response to that?"

Jack inches closer and puts a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "I can only agree." He gives her a wide grin and retreats his hand as fast as he touches her hair. "I'll head back. We know the old man despises waiting. Have a good day, Elsa." Jack grins, a faint blush adorning his cheeks, as he storms away to the library.

Elsa is stunned for a while. She plays with the strands which were taken care of by Jack just minutes ago. She bites her lip and smiles for an unknown reason. Jack once did the same thing back then, but this time...it feels _different_ somehow—as if it awakens something inside of her.

The young queen shakes her head and returns to her study with the coffee on her right hand and a delightful smile stretched on her face.

"Well, coffee surely lightens up the mood." Marius gives away his comment as soon as Elsa enters the room. "_Norwegians_."

Elsa reacts with a chuckle and takes her place beside the knight. "Now, where were we?"

"The patrol guards." Marius slides the paper he had read to Elsa. "I've checked. The troop is all set to do as you requested."

"They don't need any specific training?"

"You know me, My Queen. I've always finalized their tutelage before I sailed away from the kingdom."

"I never doubt you, general." Elsa sends her knight an appreciative smile. "Thank you."

"Anything for you." Marius replies with a wink as he leans his back on the chair, letting Elsa move on to the other documents. "Can't believe I _finally_ have some free periods." The knight grins at himself as he looks at the castle's high ceilings attired with majestic rosemaling designs.

"You don't have anything to do at the moment?" Elsa perks up at his blurt.

"Not until the wedding, at least." He shrugs, fingers rubbing his chin and thinking about his plans for the days ahead. "The recruitment for the newcomers doesn't start until after the wedding bell rings. Something piques your interest, My Queen?"

Elsa chews the inside of her cheeks and absentmindedly taps her fingers on the table. "I have a request, but you'll have to sacrifice your free period for it."

"I pledge my life for you, surely my _free period_ is included in the contract." Marius chuckles and sits upright. "What is your request?"

Elsa smiles at her knight as she takes a sip of her coffee. She remembers how her fiancé told her the only lesson he'd enjoyed—as a prince—was his physical training. The sword-fight, archery, and all the other combats. "I want you to train someone."

* * *

The smile never did once fade from Jack's face, the same thing goes to the adorable blush complimenting the pale complexion of his cheeks. The butterflies inside his stomach keep flying here and there as he cannot seem to erase Elsa's ravishing beauty from his head. He lets out a little laugh and slightly shakes his head in an attempt to stay focused on his reading. Erlingur can only entertain himself from his desk, watching Jack who's finally following his advice to fall in love.

"Alright, I suppose it is time to end today's lesson." Erlingur smiles and finishes checking Jack's summary of one of the darkest moments of Arendelle. It's about how Black Death remained in Norway for six months and almost half of the country's population died. Jack looks up from the third history book he had skimmed for today and breathes out a sigh of relief. "The wedding will be here in six days, yet there are still too many things I haven't taught you. Starting from tomorrow, we will fast-forward. I hope you can absorb information faster and brief the chapters before our lessons start."

"I'll try," Jack can only nod and massage his temples. By the time Saturday arrives and all this madness ends, he's going to scream so loud in triumph.

The old man finishes shuffling his scrolls inside his leather messenger bag and empties his cup of coffee. "See you tomorrow, Jack."

"Thanks for today, Er." Erlingur smiles before exiting the room. Jack lets out a frustrated sigh and slumps on the couch. He puts his arm across his face and closes his eyes, letting the tight knot on his brain loosens a bit. A knock on the door interrupts his relaxation as he slowly sits back.

"Come in!" Jack yawns and fixes his eyes at the doorway, staring at the muscled figure standing straight with his hands on his back.

"Your Highness," Sir Marius gives Jack a formal bow as he takes a couple of steps inside the room.

Jack shoves back his irritation to his throat and swiftly stands to return the greeting. "Marius. Do you need anything?" He keeps his straight-to-business voice since the general is the only person he hasn't warmed up to in the palace.

"I need your presence at the field an hour after dinner, Jack." Marius flashes the prince one of his charming smiles.

"Care filling me in with details?" Jack quirks his eyebrow and shoots a skeptical look at the knight.

Aware of the prince's icy stares, Marius smirks a little. "I am afraid you have to wait and see, Your Highness." Jack sharpens his gaze. "I must take my leave. I shall see you soon, Jack." Jack nods and watches the knight vanishes as soon as the door clicks close. He can safely roll his eyes and return to embrace the couch.

* * *

The young prince arrives at the field. He applauds himself for not getting lost on his way here. Arendelle is humongous and it has plenty of tricky hallways. Jack gets himself confused most of the time, but he's able to reach the field even though it is only his second time here—the first time being his first tour around the kingdom with Gerda. The prince just got back from dinner. Elsa was absent due to an unexpected meeting with the caterer regarding the wedding's props. Jack decided to keep his dinner short because he would hate to get teased by Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf any further.

He smiles and admires the Northern sky, how Aurora Borealis compliments the glimmering stars and decorates the navy-blue horizon. Slowly, he stirs his eyes to his surroundings. A faint sound of swords clashing onto each other catches his attention from nature.

"Good evening, Your Highness," Marius steps into the light, revealing himself in only his long-sleeved shirt and trousers. Jack raises his brow, seeing the knight for the first time without his usual uniform.

"Evening. What are we doing here exactly?" Jack demands for an answer that has been itching him for the past hours.

Marius only smirks. "First of all, I need you to think fast, _Your Highness_." The knight throws one of the swords he was holding as Jack swiftly circles his fingers around the grip.

Piecing Marius' actions, Jack moves the sword with ease to warm himself up and opens his body to a steady angle. "You're challenging me to fight or something?"

Marius hums quietly and effortlessly swings his sword side to side. "I leave your assumption to yourself. For now, I need _you_ to _think fast_."

Without warning, Marius runs full speed and blasts the shocked prince with a powerful lunge. Luckily, Jack has always been known for his latency. He can move as fast as the wind. Jack parries, sliding his sword away from Marius', and launches his reply. Marius tries to keep up with Jack's speed and manages to dodge Jack's attack away. Grinning, Marius steps back and stares at the prince who's panting at such a bold move.

"What the _fuck _was _that_ for?" Jack glares at the knight who's watching him as if he's an entertainment.

"I'm impressed by your reflexes, Your Highness. Well done." Giving no time for Jack to respond, Marius quickly strikes for another attack as the sounds of clashing swords fill the night atmosphere. The two spend the next few minutes unleashing attacks and trying not to get beaten up. Both have their own pluses, Jack is fast and Marius is strong. Their blades clang against each other in the same rhythm. Although, Marius does most of the attacks and Jack only replays the same defensive moves.

Marius steps away, panting heavily, as he examines Jack's stance. His body angle shows that he's focused on protecting himself, not really fighting back.

"To answer your question regarding the surprise attack, I need to test your awareness of threats. I gotta say you have quick reflexes. By examining your spontaneous moves, I can identify which parts to improve or correct."

"So, _this_ is a training?" Jack shoots Marius a cynical look. "I don't remember asking nor being asked for any."

"Elsa did." That shifts Jack's mood for reasons. "Elsa asked me to train you."

"She would've told me."

"She ordered me to inform you. But, if I did, you would've prepared yourself. It'd be hard to measure your real defense."

"So, knights aren't _that_ loyal to their words, aren't they?" Jack can't help his retort.

"Elsa has complete faith in me. If I disobey her, she knows it's for the best." Marius can't lose from the fight. "We've been together for years, Prince Jackson. _Obviously_, she trusts my instincts."

Jack holds the sword's grip tighter with both hands, failing to resist the sparks of anger burning inside of him. "I don't recall Elsa telling me your tenure as her knight."

"I was delegated when the previous king and queen died because the shipwreck took the former lord commander's life, too. However, I've been guarding Elsa's life ever since she came into this world. I've known the Queen for her whole life. We share a pretty strong bond."

_Okay...So, is he here to test my sword-fighting skill or to brag about his closeness with Elsa?_

"We also share some pretty _intimate_ moments together."

Jack jerks as if a slap has just arrived at his face. "_What?_"

_What the actual fuck?_

Marius hums and puts up his clueless facade and plays with his sword. "Elsa hasn't told you? I thought—as someone who would _soon_ portray as her _spouse—_you might want to know everything."

"The thing is, _I don't have to_," Jack replies with a thick venom lacing in his voice while taking slow steps closer to his opponent.

"Oh, I _do _think you _have to_." Marius grins and walks closer as well. "It's important to know each other's _past events_ in a marriage."

"The things _my fiancée_ and _I_ share with each other aren't _yours_ to disquiet." Jack squeezes the grip, suppressing his anger through his hold. Frost starts to creep its way up the sword.

Marius only chuckles and builds his stance. "I'm sorry if I offend you in some way, Your Highness." Applying what seems to be the cockiest grin Jack has ever witnessed, Marius swings his blade and points it at Jack's face. "I just thought you might want to know what is beneath _all those layers_."

"_How dare you—_" Taking Marius' disrespectful sentence as the final spare, Jack roars and charges at the knight. Marius protects himself, lifting his sword against Jack's. Escaping Jack's series of robust blows implies to be an easy task for the knight, but it's getting harder to keep up. Jack's movements are messy, his attacks aren't directed to one particular spot—the prince is not targeting nor searching for the opponent's weakness, but he can surely tire out his enemy to death with his endurance_—_especially in such an enraged state. Stumbling backwards, Marius can feel his grasp on his own sword loosens as Jack takes the opportunity to blast it away to the ground. Acting out of reflex, Jack gives a firm kick to Marius' stomach, sending the fatigued knight to the ground, and sets the pointy end a few inches away from Marius' face.

"Say another word, _I'll fucking end you_." Marius only smiles at Jack's darkened eyes as he lets out a slight chuckle.

What the knight utters next is completely out of Jack's belief_._

"Even if I told you I'm Elsa's _cousin?_"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**I already made a hella long _Author's Greeting _up there so let's keep this one short! IMPORTANT NOTE HOWEVER: Starting from now, I'll be updating once for two weeks! Usually I don't update timely, but I already finished the draft up to Chapter 23 and I can't wait for y'all to read it!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- Marius' role as Elsa and Anna's cousin will be explained later, **_**don't freak out. **_**(a little spoiler though: Marius was appointed to be a knight before Elsa was even born)**

**Thank you so so so much for the reviews, follows, and faves! You all blow me as always and I love every single one of you! Stay super amazing!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	17. Chapter 16

_**Author's Greeting**_

**HENLO, FOLKS! Welcome to Chapter 16! But, as I said in the previous chapter, I'm gonna reply to the reviews in forms of questions or those that need further explanations! (or just because I want to lol )**

**_FROST-JJ_: was norwegian a word known during this era?  
**love, you and your historical-based question for me who always slept in history classes djskahb HAHA KIDDING. The answer is: my stupid self came back from _Google_ and found out that 'Norway' had declared its independence in 1814. Frozen II was somewhere in 1847, so...I guess...it..._works? _*sweating heavily* HAHA, I DON'T KNOW. If you or someone else that read this know the _right_, _proper_, _resourceful_ answer about this, you are welcomed to leave a review or perhaps PM me and correct my lack of historical content in this story! I need guidance. Help. THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION THOUGH! 3

_**Guest246**_**:** **How obvious was the frost? Would Marius have noticed it?  
**Oh! You can picture it like how Elsa accidentally frosted some parts of the orb and scepter during her coronation! The frost was pretty visible but ain't nobody seemed to notice it, heh...it even disappeared when Elsa handed the two objects back to the bishop! (AND DO YOU KNOW THAT: **the voice actor of the bishop on Elsa's coronation is _ROBERT PINE _a.k.a _CHRIS PINE'S FATHER._** Oh? You just did this very second? Welp, I am glad we have more reason and connection why we have to stan the Jelsa ship.)

_**Guest**_**: ****You have inspired me to write my own fanfic and I'm hoping to post it soon.  
***GASPS* WHAT? _W H A T? _OH MY GOD THAT SOUNDS REALLY EXCITING! I AM SO SO _SO _HAPPY FOR YOU! Writing is a lot of un, but it takes a lot of courage to post your fanfic! That's a huge step take you're taking and I'm wishing you all the good luck!

**Also, big big big thank yous to ****_AO3 Reposter_, _Fanfictions4ever_****, ****_LivininCorsets_, ****and _Raven21 _****for your heart-warming reviews! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! Thank you so much for _still _reading this super boring and _long _fanfic of mine!**

**Without any further ado and my annoying rambles, let's head to the real thing!**

* * *

_**Preparation**_

* * *

**"You're Elsa's cousin?"**

"That's what I said."

"And _intimate moments_ stand for your _heart-to-heart talks_ with Elsa?"

"Yup. She told you I'm one of her godfathers, right? For someone who has been through a lot, she needs someone to talk to."

"I find it weird though. You're not _that _old to be a godfather and then at the same time you're her _cousin?_"

"Of course, it's weird because the saying came from _Anna_. Elsa's godfathers are Anna's, too. She randomly came up with the idea of godparents and only saw their roles as someone who took care of her and Elsa on a daily basis. Gerda, Olina, Kai, Egil, and I—_especially_—had to deal with it."

"Okay. That makes a lot more sense based on Anna's standards. _However_, you still haven't explained your bloodline. I don't remember Elsa telling me her parents had siblings."

"Well, that takes one hell of a time to explain." Marius kicks the pebbles underneath his boots as they walk to the guards' barrack.

They made up pretty quick. After Marius' identity reveal and a series of horrible laughter, Jack and Marius escalated to the term _friends_. Turns out, both are more likely to be the same than they are different.

"We have one hell of a time, too." Jack shrugs as he steps inside Marius' office. Huge bottles of rum are marched next to a dusty wooden shelf filled with a variety of books. Piles of scrolls are mounted on the table near a large window. A regular-sized bunk—pretty small for Marius' figure—is situated at the corner of the room along with a big traditional chest with crocus symbols all around its sides. There are also a couple of plants being put separately to bring such a narrow space to life.

"You gotta rest. Morning lessons with Erlingur, remember? He can be chill but can also be scary enough if you slack off." Marius laughs and offers the prince a glass of rum. "Oh—_correction_—you will have your first session with Kai tomorrow. That guy is too stiff for his own good." Jack accepts the gesture and drinks it. He sneaked out plenty of times back in the Northern Isles. Visiting places here and there. He surely already went to the local pubs and tasted some liquids he hadn't experienced in the castle.

"Alright. That one is for another day." Jack hums and sits on the surprisingly soft bunk. "The one for today will be...Why didn't you tell me from the start? I was _so _ready to kick your ass." Marius chuckles and sits beside the prince.

"I've seen plenty of jerks lining up to volunteer as Elsa's husband. I guess I just wanna know whether you're one or not."

"And now you know which category fits me?" Jack treats himself with another gulp.

"Yup. A _new _category, though." Marius nods, emphasizing the p at the end. "_A lovesick one_." Jack almost spits out his drink. "It's obvious." There goes Marius' annoying smirk which Jack wants to punch so bad.

"I got it bad, huh?"

"_That bad_." Marius mocks, receiving a kick from the prince. "Man, _seriously_. You think I didn't notice your—what was it Anna called it—_lovey-dovey_ _eyes _on Elsa?"

"I don't think—"

"You don't think you're doing it, but we all can see it."

Jack puffs his cheeks and scratches the back of his neck, recalling Anna, Olaf, and Kristoff's super evil smiles. "I wonder if she already knows about my feelings for her, too."

"She doesn't. She's as oblivious as you are." The knight reaches for the bottle of rum and swallows a big gulp. "She's also oblivious about her feelings, too."

"_Huh?_" That sentence quickens the pace of Jack's heart.

"She's surprisingly a lot happier with you around. I remember she had some wrinkles on her forehead before I sailed to Corona...Now, she looks _younger _than _ever_. It's also easier to make her laugh nowadays." Marius smiles as he recalls Elsa's heartily laughs at his jokes. She only gave him polite giggles to appreciate his remarks before. Recently, everything seems to be interesting to her. She's _free-er_—according to Anna's vocabulary—at some point. "You succeed in bringing the best out of her. I owe you my thanks." Marius smirks as he successfully paints the color red on Jack's pale canvas. "When are you going to tell her anyway?"

"Tell her what exactly?"

"That you _love _her, of course." Jack sinks deeper into the bunk.

"Well, uh...Is it necessary?"

"You want me to swing my sword to your face right now?" Marius snorts at the prince as he chugs down the remaining liquid inside the bottle. "It's _damn necessary_, man. It'll change _everything_. Yes, you're married one way or another, but your confession will shape its _meaning_. You two will be sealed in marriage because of _love _and _not _by a fucking _contract_."

Jack chews the inside of his cheeks after finishing his rum. "Well, my sister told me 'if you want to say something important, you need to make sure everything else is perfect.' "

Marius applies his smirk. "That's a start. You got any ideas?"

Jack looks forlorn at the knight and shrugs. "I don't know...I have zero experience in courting a lady."

Just when Marius is about to open his mouth, a knock comes from the door. It twists open, revealing Kristoff with his mouth full and a half-eaten carrot on his palm. "Wow, I don't expect Jack to be here." Kristoff casually greets the two and steps inside.

"We were just hanging out_._" Jack quickly answers. Kristoff does _not _need to know the conversation he had with Marius just seconds ago. "How about you?"

"To train, of course." Kristoff simply answers though he _is _suspicious because both men aren't _that _close to each other. "Anna's a better sword fighter than I am and I can't lose my cool." It's true. Marius has been Elsa's guard before she was even born. He grew up pretty close to the sisters, though not that often because he needed to finish his training by the time Elsa claimed the throne.

When Elsa shut the world out, Marius tried to cheer Anna up and train her with swords. Anna had the tendency to break something every day—_every hour_ to be exact, mostly the knight's armors which lined up in the hallways of the castle. Marius joked that she would become a brilliant sword-fighter, judging from how many _soldiers _she had destroyed. The 7-years-old Anna took it way seriously and she demanded Marius to teach her sword-fighting. King Agnarr was hesitant to let her daughter handle a weapon—even the sword Marius carved himself for the little princess out of wood, but Queen Iduna managed to persuade her husband to agree. The parents couldn't really say no to Anna's sad face. Anna trained with the wooden sword for years. Once she turned sixteen, Marius—with the permission from the king and queen—lent Anna a real blade. Now, the princess not only throws her opponents with a powerful punch but also can strike them with a sword. "So, private training, too?"

Marius creates a lopsided grin for some reason. "Well, we _were_."

"Oh, alright. What are guys talking about then?" The bulky man asks to be polite.

"_Absolutely nothi_—"

"Jack finally admitted he loves Elsa and now we're plotting for a proposal." Marius blurts, earning a death glare from Jack.

"_Finally!_" Kristoff laughs and drags a chair to sit in front of them. "Admittance worked for your sickness?"

"Shut up." Jack rolls his eyes and attempts to hide his surging blush. "You can either walk out or help me out."

"Oh, he is here to help alright." Marius grins, flashing a teasing demeanor to Kristoff. "For someone who has tried _four different proposal techniques_, this guy right here is _all _the help you need."

"Don't bring that up." Kristoff scoffs, his face turning pink. "The fault is on me with my _lack of woman-wooing skill_."

"Well, your _woman-wooing skill_ surely escalates through experience." Marius gives Kristoff a teasing wink. "Looks like that vibrant ring won't be yours to keep any longer."

"The trolls do have good taste in accessories." Kristoff chuckles and turns to the clueless Jack who's trying to understand the conversation that's happening between the two. "Alright, back to you. You want to propose?"

"Yes." Jack gulps in surprise at the certainty of his own voice.

Kristoff finishes his carrot and cleans his fingers with his leather clothes. "We better get to work then."

* * *

"You both are _so _talented...The dress blew past my expectations!" Elsa praises the two women once again as she leads them out of her giant wardrobe.

"You are overwhelmingly kind, Your Majesty." Elin, the seamstress, shyly plays with a loose strand from her neatly bobbed bun. Elin and Elise are the copies of Elsa and Anna. The older sister, Elin, is much more of the quiet type and the younger one, Elise, is way bubblier.

"Well, it is our job to impress our customers." Elise, the designer, gives the queen a cocky smile as they all stand on the doorway. Elsa had just tried out her wedding dress and hadn't stopped smiling ever since. Elsa sure is in love with the sisters' astonishing work. The dress was an overall white gown with a strapless top that fits the young queen perfectly as the bottom flows out flawlessly and effortlessly to the ground. Tiny diamonds attire the bodice as faint purple and green shades starting from the waistline to the hem of the skirt add a rich feature to the gown, embodying the flag of Arendelle. Although, Elise and Elin claimed that the dress wasn't quite finished, so they would come back in two days to deliver more trinkets.

Elsa holds both of the women's hands and gives them a squeeze of appreciation. "I can't believe I'm going to walk down the aisle wearing that masterpiece. I can't thank you, two gifted young ladies, enough."

"Oh my God, Your Majesty, you can really stop before you melt our hearts right here." Elise laughs. "I can't imagine how the princess is going to react once she sees it."

Elin wonders the same thing. "Oh...Speaking of Princess Anna, I haven't seen her around. Usually, she's easy to spot."

"The princess sure likes to roam around the palace," Elise adds a comment. "I _at least_ expected Her Highness trying to unlock the door with a hairpin." Elin laughs as Elsa remains in silence.

The young queen hasn't seen Anna since last week. The last conversation she had with her was about the Northern Lights at dinner that time. It makes sense though. Ever since Marius arrived, they have been busy discussing the security of the wedding. Elsa also spends 24 hours of her days locked up inside the castle, filled with documents on her study and a series of meetings with everyone who contributed to the wedding. Meanwhile, Anna easily gets bored, so it makes sense if she stops coming to her and asking her about the wedding progress, following the same routine again and again.

_Although, Elsa can't help but miss her baby sister._

"Well, let's just keep our mouths sealed if we stumble upon the princess." Elise concludes as she links her arm around Elin's. "We should get going. I still need to contact Erik to prepare for Prince Jack's suit this evening and Elin needs to perfect the details for tomorrow."

"Don't let me hold you here. Good luck and thank you for both of your services." Elsa dismisses them as she goes back inside to her study. Closing the door, she places her forehead on the door and lets out a long sigh. The wedding is only _five days away_. The young queen needs to finish her paperwork of the day before having a meeting with Kai and Gerda regarding the venues. Count Gregory will also visit her in the evening to inform her about the wedding guests. Kai mentioned Count Gregory would also bring Count Eirik along which she found a bit out of context. The count should be taking care of the businesses in the Northern Isles, all about correcting Jack's label as the prince there and connecting Arendelle with their allies.

Speaking of Jack, she has been missing his presence. Actually, she has been missing _everyone's presence_. She doesn't know how _Jack's doing_, _Anna's_—let alone Kristoff's, Sven's, and Olaf's. She hugs herself as guilty surges up inside of her. She blames herself for not taking some extra minutes to check up on the people she holds dear, especially her little sister since they promised they would never shut each other out and would always share life updates as much as possible.

As if God answers to Elsa's distress, she lets out a shriek when Anna abruptly pushes the door open.

Anna quickly apologizes as she notices Elsa's shock at her entrance. "_Elsa!_ I'm _so sorry_—I didn't know you were—_uh_...relaxing by the door?"

Elsa only laughs as she pulls Anna into a hug. "It's fine." She smiles as Anna quickly returns the embrace, squeezing Elsa just as tight.

"Not that I complain about this, but is something wrong?" Anna asks—worry lacing through her voice—as she slowly backs away and looks at Elsa.

"I just missed you. I hadn't seen you around for the last three days." Elsa caresses Anna's cheek as she takes in her features. Anna looks equally tired for some reason. The thought of something had been the cause of those bags under Anna's eyes swiftly troubles her. "You look exhausted, Anna. What have you been doing?"

"Oh! I just came back from Helga's to help her set up the instruments and also talked to Olina to ready the foods."

Elsa blinks in confusion.

Helga is a famous artisan in the kingdom. The royal family has always asked for her service even if there is no event going around, just like when Anna asked her to make a harp in the portrait room and many more crafts. Olina, on the other hand, is Gerda's right hand. When Gerda is not around, you have Olina in charge. As far as Elsa knows from Kai and Gerda, the instruments for the wedding are still in great shapes from Elsa's coronation—so, there's no need to involve Helga for new ones. As for Olina, Elsa only asked her to take care of the desserts...but foods in general?

"What for?" Elsa opens up the case as Anna quickly puts her hands on her mouth.

"_Nothing._" That proves Elsa's suspicion.

"I don't accept 'nothing' for an answer, Anna." Elsa speaks sternly, but still so tenderly holds Anna's arms. "I know for sure those aren't for the wedding."

Anna bites her bottom lip as she looks everywhere but her sister. She's literally cornered. "Well..._uh_..._yeah_, those aren't for the wedding." She finally braves herself to look at Elsa and applies an awkward grin. "It's for tomorrow's Harvest Festival."

"Harvest Festival?" Elsa squints her eyes as she processes the information Anna just gave her. She thinks for a few seconds before letting out the biggest gasp. "_The Harvest Festival—_it's_ tomorrow?_" Elsa begins to panic as she breaks away from Anna, darts to the balcony, and _finally _takes a look outside.

_The leaves are changing._

_Fall is coming._

"_Oh my God_—"

Harvest Festival is held at the beginning of fall to welcome the fall season and embrace the changes the kingdom has made, also to express gratitude for everything Arendelle has had. The whole village will have their own parts in the festival, so it requires a _prolonged _preparation.

Elsa, _the queen_, doesn't even have _a _preparation.

"_Anna, I forgot all about it!_" Elsa's panic escalates to a whole new level as she holds her head, preventing her brain from falling due to so many things that needed to be done in one single day.

And what's worse is that she didn't only keep herself away from the people she loves, but also with some of _her responsibilities _as _queen_. "_Oh, Anna_—_what am I supposed to do?!_" She absentmindedly walks in circles as Anna tries to get a hold of her.

"Elsa—"

"It—it's _tomorrow!_ _Oh my God_—how could I be so _nonchalant_—" Elsa _hates _to _fail people_.

"Elsa, wait—"

"I can't _believe _myself!" Elsa _hates _to _be a bad leader_.

"_Elsa!_" Elsa seals her mouth as Anna's hands grasp her shoulders, holding her still. "_Everything _is already _set_, Elsa." Anna smiles and rubs Elsa's arms in comfort. "You have _nothing _to worry about."

"_What?_" Elsa whispers in disbelief. "What do you mean _everything_ is already _set_?"

"I may or may have not taken care of it." Anna sheepishly grins as she drops her arms from Elsa's and rubs them together.

"You _what?_"

"Uh... 'I have taken care of it?' " Anna repeats. "You know like—making the announcement for the people, creating the town's decorations, organizing the flags and banners—all that stuff? I basically only followed the list we had made, remember?"

The night before the wedding news was delivered to Elsa, the sisters have listed everything they had to do for the celebration. Anna threw all her ideas as Elsa considered her words and wrote down the ones they both agreed with. Their conversation ended because Anna agreed to help Egil make some chocolate cookies—since she was the one who begged for more—as Elsa continued with her paperwork. Not long after that, Kai delivered the arranged marriage proposal and Elsa forgot about everything else.

Luckily, Anna_ didn't._

"You did all of those?" Elsa asks, her expression is somewhat blank as if she's trying to absorb Anna's statements. "_You?_"

That word somehow turns on Anna's insecurity.

_No_. She is _sure _she doesn't mess up this time.

"No—_of course not!_" Anna automatically answers. "I got all the help that I needed! I consulted to Kai and Gerda about everything I had to finish per day and they also helped me with flags, banners, the official announcement for the kingdom, and all things that needed to be done in the castle. I got Kristoff, Sven, Kristoff's ice harvester friends, and a few ice sculptors helping me with some icy decorations—that's also why I'd been going with him a lot to harvest tons of ice. I had Olaf helping me with the people's requests because he'd made a lot of progress in reading. I talked to Marius, Olina, Helga, Marte, and the others for everything else, too!" Anna takes a few seconds to catch up with her breath. "I can assure you I _only _coordinated things and I _didn't _cause _any_ _trouble!_" She grins toothily and continues before Elsa can say anything. "And I'm _so sorry_ I didn't tell you about the Harvest Festival because I know you have tons of things to do and then you have a wedding coming up that needs to be done in a really, _really _short time. I—well, actually everyone else—can perfectly see you're already tired with all of those, so I really don't want to add another pressure on you—" Something dings inside Anna's head.

"And _this was_ originally going to be a _surprise _for _you_ for being such a great queen _which_ I have only just _realized...ruined_ by _myself_..._when _I was the one to tell everyone to keep _this _a _secret_..."

Anna facepalms.

"_Ha...ha..._" She purses her lips as she mentally kicks herself for her daily stupidity. "And—_yeah_. I hope you're not mad at me."

Elsa shakes her head, her face breaking into an ear-splitting smile, as her eyes begin to water. She pulls Anna into a hug and lovingly strokes her head. "Oh, _Anna_...you did all of that for _me?_"

Anna feels her heart swells as she returns her sister's second hug of the day. "Well, I love you."

Elsa giggles and plants a small kiss on Anna's head. "I love you too, sis_._" She backs away and looks at her baby sister once again. "What would I do without _you?_"

Anna only smiles and holds Elsa's hand in hers. "You'll _always_ have _me_." She rummages the pocket on her skirt as she pulls out a burgundy knitted scarf they both know all too well.

_Mother's scarf._

The object that reminds them of their mother's warmth and their parents' love.

"You have _all _of _us_." Anna whispers as she brings herself closer to her sister and wraps the scarf around Elsa's. "Just a note that you don't have to do everything alone. There's always a '_we_.' "

Elsa wipes her tears as she pulls Anna close and wraps her little sister with the scarf as well. "Thank you, Anna."

"Anytime, sis." Anna giggles and gasps as soon as she remembers something. "Now that the secret is out, I _really_ want you to try the dress I have for you for tomorrow! Actually, I only asked Elin to seam the dress. It's still a plain light purple dress because I know you wanna add your own touch to it."

"Maybe later, Anna. Marius wanted to discuss something with me."

"Oh, _don't worry about it!_ I also involved Marius in the plan and told him to keep you busy in your study. He doesn't really have anything important to say!" Anna smirks in triumph, feeling as if she just accomplished something great that she had managed to trick her sister for once.

"_Oh_." Elsa finally realizes. "He's pretty good at keeping this game with you. I didn't notice a thing."

"I know. I'm _that _smart."

Elsa rolls her eyes and smiles. "Well, I can definitely try out the dress then."

"_Oh!_" Anna shrieks for the second time as another thing registers into her mind. "That day when we made the list, you also said you want to change Arendelle's iconography for this one? Just like the Yule bell iconography we had back then for the winter holiday?"

Elsa hums and smiles at Anna, knowing perfectly well Anna has decided for it and never doubted her. "I believe you have that one sorted already?"

"_Yep!_" Anna beams. "A _wheat!_ It symbolizes prosperity and health. I think that's what Arendelle is now. It'll also be accompanied by the colors of orange and red, representing the autumn feels. Olaf helped me with the idea!"

"It's perfect, Anna." Elsa smiles proudly at her sister. "You're officially the queen's personal royal advisor from now on."

"I think I'll stick with being the queen's _sister_. It gives me more happiness _and _I don't really want Kai to be unemployed." Anna laughs and hugs her sister's arm as they walk out of Elsa's study. "_So_..." She thinks of another topic to prevent silence.

"_So?_" Elsa irks her eyebrow and looks suspiciously at her sister. She recognizes that tone. The tone Anna uses whenever she wants to hear a specific answer from someone out of her question.

"How are things with you and Jack?" That one surely catches Elsa off guard, but she still keeps her composure.

"Things like what?"

"You know what I mean, Elsa," Anna replies. "How's your relationship with him?"

Elsa bites her lip and unconsciously plays with her engagement ring on her finger. Anna has always been a chump for romance. She knows it ever since Anna wanted all of the snow figurines Elsa had made for their little play to get married when they were little. Of course, she's going to press these questions sooner or later.

And speaking of Jack, Elsa surely _misses him_.

_But_, she's glad for _not frequently meeting him_ at the same time.

She grows a bit nervous to be around him nowadays...perhaps it's because of the wedding? She and Jack chatted a lot, but only to get to know each other. They never touched the topic of how they're going to live their lives together as _husband _and _wife_, let alone _leading_ a _whole kingdom_. Now that they're getting close but still have zero clues about their own future is a terrifying thought for Elsa.

"Having Jack as a friend is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received in my life." Not really knowing what to answer the romance part like what Anna's hoping for, she simply tells her sister about their lovely relationship which is the truth. "I'm sure we will work things out."

When Elsa says those words, Anna knows not to push the topic further. "Okay...I hope so, too." Elsa only nods, silently grateful for Anna's understanding gesture.

Deep down, Anna is super ready to scold Jack for still keeping his icy secret to himself.

* * *

"_Oh my goodness_." Marius places his hand on his chest as he devours the phenomenal sight granted upon him.

"You think you're gonna cry? Me, too." Kristoff agrees as he tries his best to plant his feet on the ground and not worship the dazzling scenery. Sven seconds that as he happily wanders around the garden.

The castle's garden is now a winter wonderland. Frost creeps up on every inch of the garden. It spreads on every branch, leaf, petal, grass, wall, everywhere, leaving no part untouched. Winter garlands and wreaths beautify the trees as snow-white cushions are neatly placed on the frosted bench swing.

"I hope this won't be too boring for her." Jack crosses his arms and checks if there's anything he can add. He wields his giant, crooked staff and adds another pile of sparkling snow under the tree.

After Jack finished his lesson with Kai about Arendelle's trading partners and dignitaries, the three went to the inn to have a nice lunch along with a couple of drinks and get Jack's staff from the owner, Oliver. Before Jack moved into the castle, he had asked Oliver if he could keep his staff there for a while. He'd hate to carry that peculiar thing to the ball and have the castle's servants asking him about it, _especially_ having Elsa find out about it. Luckily, Oliver only agreed and didn't ask weird things about the unusual stick.

On the other hand, Kristoff and Sven decided to take a day off from their job. Marius also had nothing to do for the day because his meeting with Elsa was cancelled.

"_It's perfect_." Kristoff voices Sven's thought.

The reindeer approaches a purple heather flower as he touches it with its tongue. Marius' eyes pop as he spots the flower in its full bloom. "The plants are still growing? I thought plants that are frozen are _also _dead?"

"Oh, yeah. I used to read my sister stories before she went to bed. There was this book about fairies and it explained how frost tucked the warm air inside the plant and kept out the cold. I don't really understand the science of it, but it worked when I tried."

"It's like protecting the plants. Funny because the trolls told me the same story." Kristoff finishes off. Jack nods as he continues to examine the masterpiece he had been creating for the past three hours. He's quite proud of himself since he always froze his castle's garden whenever he was upset. Now, he freezes a garden to _impress _a _lady_.

_Talk about character development_.

"Fascinating." Marius whispers, failing to hide his bewilderment towards Jack's ability. "Why didn't you tell me about your freaking ice powers sooner?" Marius glares at the young prince.

"_Revenge_, I guess?" Jack snickers.

"Bastard." Marius laughs and shakes his head. "_Man_, it's crazy to think there's a person who controls ice and eventually gets married to someone else who controls ice, too."

"It's_ true love_," Kristoff adds. Marius and Jack turn their heads and look at Kristoff. "Anna literally rubs off on me." Sven grunts and gives Kristoff a look, too. "Don't look at me like that."

"Anyways, what's your next plan then?" Marius asks and steps closer to Jack who seems to be finished with his work.

"I kneel, keep a short speech, and ask her to marry me. But, most of all, try not to get nervous. Right, Kristoff and Sven?"

"You got that right." Kristoff puts his thumb up as he wraps his giant arm around Sven. "Don't forget to spin her around and _kiss _her." Kristoff uses his Sven voice and sends Jack a flirtatious wink. Marius snorts and sends the same look to Jack as well.

That surely turns Jack into a tomato.

"I—I should take care of the ring first." The thought of being _that _intimate to Elsa surely makes him dizzy.

"Of course. Make sure you didn't _forget _to _bring _it." Marius shoots a look at Kristoff.

"We've been over this." Kristoff scolds the mischievous knight.

"Four failed attempts and, perhaps, _more._"

"_Har har_." Kristoff decides to ignore Marius' heavy laughter. "So, back to the ring. You have ideas for that?"

"I think I'm just gonna visit Victor's jewelry shop. I just found out from Kai he was the one responsible for our engagement rings."

"Not a bad idea, but don't you think it has to be _special_?" Kristoff comments.

"Right," Marius adds. "Kristoff asked his troll family to help him with the ring. It was made from the rare orange diamond the trolls had dug for him. It compliments Anna's fluffy, dreamy, vibrant hair color, eh? It's only a matter of time and _Kristoff's courage _to make Anna wear that ring." Sven grins bemusedly and creates a funny noise.

"You tease me one more time I swear I'll beat your ass on our next training." Kristoff blushes heavily and clears his throat. "But, yeah, the ring needs to be _extra special_. It doesn't only symbolize _love_, but it also serves as a _commitment_. It's best to give Elsa a ring that represents both of you."

"That never crossed my mind." Jack mumbles and scratches the back of his neck.

"Why don't you just use that power of yours and make her an ice ring?" Marius suggests.

"My power isn't fully identical to Elsa's. She can perfectly create a sculpture from ice, I can only make snow here and there."

Kristoff narrows his eyes. "Anna told me you made a small replica of Elsa's clock tower statue back at the harbor?"

"And it was _horrible_." Jack purses his lips. "It looked like a failed toy that got kicked out of the factory." Even his father confirmed it.

"Well, we have a handful of ice sculptors that can surely help you with that." Marius shrugs as Kristoff and Sven share their approvals.

"That'll do." Jack agrees. "This could've been way easier if my dad was here. He's one hell of an ice sculptor."

"_What a coincidence!_" Kristoff claps in hands in merriment. "He's arriving here this evening."

"He _what?_" Jack's eyes fly open.

"Uh..." Kristoff purses his lips and glances at Marius from his peripheral vision. "We only keep it a secret from Elsa, right?"

It's now Marius' turn to glare at Kristoff. "I believe Anna said the 'icy _couple_.' "

"Oh..._okay_...well, it's out _early_. Nothing to worry about." Kristoff puts up a wide, awkward grin as he earns an angry nudge from Sven.

Jack only chuckles but doesn't let the topic slide. "Okay, what's this surprise about?"

"Arendelle holds an annual Harvest Festival. Anna came up with the idea to welcome the fall and Elsa made it real during her reign. There's going to be tons of activities that will integrate everyone in Arendelle."

"But, mostly foods," Kristoff adds. "And_ carrots_." Sven continues.

"Since you're going to be a part of Arendelle real soon, Anna kinda wanted it to be a surprise for you and Elsa, but it was mostly because you two were already stressing over the wedding. And...your folks are invited, too, because the Northern Isles will legitimately be a part of Arendelle."

"_Wow_. How come I never noticed something as big as this?"

"Erlingur and Kai kept you busy. I kept Elsa busy." Marius smirks.

"_Damn_." Jack awes. "That explains a lot. You guys are good." Marius broadens his smugly smirk.

"Back to the ring again." Kristoff interferes. "North will be here at night. You think you have plenty of time to work on that ring?"

"Don't worry. Dad can do it in a blink of an eye."

"Alright." Kristoff nods as he turns to Sven and uses his Sven voice. "Now, we're going to crosscheck things."

"The _where _is ready." The wintry garden is done.

"The _what _is settled." The ring is still in progress, but will surely be done by tomorrow.

"The _who _is safe." Elsa remains oblivious about the whole thing, both the proposal and Jack's ability.

"The _when _and the _how _are the only ones left unprepared."

"Since you guys told me about the Harvest Festival..." Jack taps his chin and looks around the garden. "Can you tell me more about the fest and all the activities that are going to be there?"

"_Ah_." Kristoff grins and sees where Jack's going with the question. Sven also shares the same expression.

"_What?_" Though Marius remains oblivious.

"Looks like our man here wants to add one last activity to the festival." Kristoff laughs and pats Jack's back.

"_Oh_." Marius puts up his smirk back. "Tell me more about this mission."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**WHOOP! How was it, y'all? We're _finally _having a close-to-proposing Jack! And a Harvest Festival content! _This means _we're getting closer to the Frozen II plot that I'm gonna mess up real bad _hehe_. So, prepare yourselves!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- The description from Anna's engagement ring is based on '**_**Art of Frozen 2**_**'  
****\- Helga is an artisan according to '**_**Frozen Adventures Game**_**'  
****\- In 'Olaf's Frozen Adventures', Arendelle's iconography changed temporarily to a Yule bell instead of the royal flower, crocus, to celebrate the winter holiday  
****\- The frosted flower concept is based on '**_**Tinker Bell and Secret of the Wings**_**', how frost actually helps the plants survive from the winter that's threatening the warm territory**

**AND OH MY GOD, thank you sooo much for the many reviews, follows, and faves! You all always blow me and I think I've said it way too many times already but no I don't care I just want you all to know how amazing you are and how thankful I am to have you here! I shall see ya peeps soon, _very soon _which is next week!**

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


	18. Chapter 17

_**Author's Greeting**_

**HENLO, AMAZING PEOPLE! It's that time of the week again for me, a lazyass, to update this story! But, before that, let me reply to some reviews first!**

**_LivininCorsets_: Oooh will you include the RotG cast in the songs as well?**  
lol, Panda. Idk how to answer this without spoiling the future chapters, so I'm just gonna say with an evil smirk: you shall wait and see! Thanks for your question and excitement, mom!

_**Guest246**_**: are his powers mostly just regular snow and frost? Is the tradeoff a larger area of effect (seeing as he could travel between continents quickly in ROTG).**  
oooooh, I can't say much for now because it's going to reveal something from the story, hehe. I guess you just gotta wait and see! Thank you so much for your question and your sharp eye on Jack's abilities!

**For _FROST-JJ_, **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW THAT IS SO SWEET AHHH! Yes, I also agree with you I have tons of mistakes here, I'm still super new to writing and I never really have proper knowledge about it lol! I'm hoping to reconstruct this book soon to just fix the grammars and errors here and there. I really hope I can do better and thank you so much for your honesty, I truly adore it!

**For _Fanfictions4ever_, **KYAAAH Thank you for the many references on your review! I'll totally consider and look up to them for more research! Your review is really eye-opening and I love _love_ you for that! Thank you so much again!

**For****_white tiger freak_: **and YOU are also freaking sweet with that review of yours, thank youuuu! I'm so glad you're loving the book, hope I won't fail you with this chapter!

**Alright, now leggo to the real thing! Enjoy, babies!**

* * *

_**Story Changes**_

* * *

**"Jack!"**

Princess Emmeline skips the last three stairs as she engulfs Jack in a tight hug. Jack—who managed to catch her on time—returns the embrace and tenderly kisses her head.

"Hey, little goose. Miss me?" Jack messes with Emma's head as the little girl laughs and buries her head deeper into Jack's sky blue royal jacket. "Miss you, too." Jack kisses her sister on her forehead before setting her on the ground. Jack and Count Gregory have been standing by the dock and waiting for the Northern Isles' ship arrival. Once its unique snowflake crest emerged into view, Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jack! Look at the man you've become!" Thiana embraces him next as she swiftly opens his mouth and examines her teeth. "I notice a few changes in your molars, Jack. How many sweets have you eaten?" Thiana shoots the poor prince a cynical look as a pair of strong arms pry her away from Jack.

"Pipe down, sheila. He's 24 last time I checked and that's old enough to take care of his own appetite." Aster wraps his arm around Thiana's waist as he slips his other arm inside his pocket. "We should probably ask how many troubles he has caused since he got here."

"You'd be surprised I've been in my best behavior here," Jack smirks and glances at the figure standing beside his oldest brother. "Hi, Sandy. Enjoying the sea?" Sandy gives Jack a smile and signs.

'The fjord makes it enhance more.' Jack chuckles and gives his brother an agreeable nod.

"_Ah_. Here again at last!" King Nicholas is the last to get down from the ship.

"Welcome to Arendelle." Count Gregory bows at the royal family and swiftly glances at the busy stevedores who are unloading something big from the cargo. He blinks the moment he catches whatever that is actually _moves_. "I notice you carry lots of goods for the kingdom?"

"Oh, yes! I bring my reindeers."

"The _what?_" Jack's eyes are on stalks as he spots the _six giant reindeers_ along with his father's _humongous sleigh_.

"We tried to reason with him." Thiana apologetically grins.

"I am a man of my words. I told your fiancée and her family I would bring my pets, didn't I?" North only laughs as his children shoot him a knowing look. "What?" Then they roll their eyes.

"Is it true that we are just in time for tomorrow's Harvest Festival?" Thiana asks and observes her surroundings. The sun is almost set, yet everyone is still crowding the streets, putting up flags and banners everywhere and performing many other various activities.

"Yep." Jack happily nods. He cannot wait to show his family the beauty of Arendelle and everything inside of it. "Come on, Elsa is waiting inside the castle." Jack takes a second to shoot Thiana a knowing look. "My fiancée who is in fact _far away_ from being a _35-years-old_." Tooth giggles as she mouths the prince a _sorry_.

"_Oh!_ Did you follow the instructions inside the _'How to Behave in Front of a Lady'_ manual book?" Emma asks as soon as Jack takes her hand and leads his family to the castle.

"Eh...about that." Jack rubs his neck and awkwardly quickens his pace. "I _did _read the manual...but _I improvised a bit_."

"I believe he means he screwed up big time, Em." Aster points out as he receives a glare from Jack. He, too, gets a slight nudge from his wife.

Emma is about to rant, but Jack quickly stops her from lashing out. "I'll explain everything as soon as you meet Elsa. You can't wait to see her, right?" Emma's upset expression shifts as she starts asking random things about Elsa. The rest of his family does not fail to notice how Jack's face starts to light up as he begins telling stories about the Queen of Arendelle and the moments he had shared with her.

* * *

"Elsa!" Anna calls for her sister who's sprinkling her magic for the decorations inside the castle. "We're back! I can't wait to tell you how _beautiful _the autumn trees are!" Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven just got back from a quick tour around the kingdom.

"Welcome home." Elsa descends from the stairs while swinging her hands, assembling icy ribbons on the handrail of the staircase.

Anna was so ready to bombard her sister with her detailed description of Arendelle's new autumn look but stops as soon as she detects something itchy behind Elsa's smile. "Hey, Kristoff, can you check the preparation for tonight's dinner for me? And perhaps feed Sven along the way. We need his full stamina to carry some supplies. Olaf mentioned he wanted to test Egil's fruit cake, too."

"Sure thing. Come on, guys." Kristoff nods and gestures Sven and Olaf to follow him to the kitchen.

"Thanks, honey." Anna smiles, stands on her tiptoes, and pecks Kristoff on the cheek before she meets Elsa on the stairs.

"How's the market square?" Elsa asks and perfects the details of the banister decoration.

"Great! Everyone cooperates greatly for tomorrow." Anna replies as she slips her fingers between Elsa's. "And I know you've supervised the castle just fine...I'm just gonna ask what's bothering you this time."

Elsa weakly smiles and sprinkles one final touch on the staircase, adding icy flowers at the end of the banister. "Jack's family is going to be here soon." She pauses for a second and takes a deep breath. "I'm afraid they won't like me."

"_Ah_." Anna nods and discerns Elsa's overthinking habit, as always. "I think you don't have to worry about that, sis. North loves you. I'm sure the kids share the same taste as their father."

Elsa laughs and shakes her head. "I'm not sure that's how it works."

"Well, _Jack _is a _proof_." Elsa blushes at her sister's usual blurt. Anna smirks in victory and leads her sister to the first floor of the castle. "Come on, dear sister, let's not stress over the things that don't need to be stressed about. You've done excellent and you just need to keep it that way."

Elsa smiles fully this time. "Thank you."

"Your Majesty and Your Highness," Kai slightly runs to meet the sisters with a wide smile on his face. "The royalties of the Northern Isles are here. They will arrive at the Great Hall in a few minutes. Count Gregory and Count Eirik are escorting them inside. The guards and the servants are ready to welcome them."

Elsa feels a strange twist in her stomach, but Anna quickly eases her with a squeeze of comfort on her hand. The young queen smiles at her sister once again before lifting her chin up and getting herself a grip to meet her future in-laws. "Thank you, Kai. Anna and I will be with you shortly." Kai nods and quickly returns to the Great Hall to help Gerda operate the warm welcome for the Northern Isles' grand entrance.

"Come on, we do this together." Anna glances at her sister as Elsa nods and holds her hand tighter, making their way to the Great Hall. Gerda is standing near the grand door along with the guards and the servants as Kai clears his spot near the Arendelle throne. The young queen stands on her throne as the princess stands beside her sister. Elsa's breath gets caught on her throat as the guards push open the doors.

Series of faint laughter from unfamiliar voices echo through the Great Hall and six individuals march inside the palace, along with the guards' bows in respect and the female servants' elegant curtsies. Elsa lands her eyes on Jack who's laughing at a young little girl in a pink dress while holding the girl's hand. Feeling someone's gaze on him, Jack looks back at the young queen and sends her a radiant smile, wiping her nervousness out of the way.

"Your Majesty," Count Eirik bows and gestures to the royalties whom he serves. "May I present to you King Nicholas of the Northern Isles and his children, Prince Asterson and his wife, Princess Thiana, Prince Sanderson, Prince Jackson, and Princess Emmeline of the Northern Isles." After he announces their arrival, Count Eirik excuses himself and brings Count Gregory along with him, letting the royalties have their moment together as a family. Elsa smiles warmly and walks forward to her guests, followed by Anna who's excitedly observing the Northern Isles' uniquely different appearances. She's pretty fascinated with the various hair colors.

"Ah, Elsa and Anna!" North laughs and wraps the sisters in a bear hug before Elsa could say a thing. "It is nice to see you both again."

Elsa and Anna hug back, laughing at North's straightforwardness. "It's great to meet you again, too!" Anna gleefully replies.

"Queen Elsa." Elsa darts her eyes from North to Prince Asterson's striking wife. Taking a second look at the princess, she senses she had seen her somewhere. "You may not remember me, but I was Mooruvellir's former countess. I attended your coronation as a representation of my king and queen."

"Oh, of course! Countess Thiana of Mooruvellir, isn't it?" Elsa smiles, though she can't help but feel a little bit uneasy as she starts to fiddle with her engagement ring. She didn't expect the subject matter of her power would be brought this _soon_. "I'm sorry I failed to recognize you. You were, in fact, one of the first dignitaries to congratulate me that day."

Princess Thiana smiles. "That is correct. I was your second audience right after the Duke of Weselton."

"You mean the Duke of _Weaseltown_." Anna barges in as she receives a playful glare from Elsa.

"Yes!" It turns out the princess matches Anna's giddiness. "I walked to Queen Elsa while you were dancing with him, Princess Anna."

"I think it was more like him tapping his heels around and me awkwardly trying to keep up with his monkey dance."

"Also him trying to keep _his wig steady_." The princesses laugh, causing Elsa to smile at both. "I originally meant to apologize because I had to leave the ball early. Aster and I needed to sort things out for our wedding."

"It's alright." Elsa quickly relaxes, that means Princess Thiana may or may not be aware of her powers and the tragedy. "Congratulations on your wedding. I am happy for you," She turns to look at Prince Asterson and gives him a smile. "And for you as well, Prince Asterson."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I might as well congratulate you on your engagement, too, with my troublesome brother over there." Prince Asterson smirks at Jack who's chuckling and slowly walking closer to Elsa.

"I don't know if I should thank you or step on your feet for that." Elsa politely giggles and turns to Jack who's still holding the little princess' hand.

Elsa tilts her head and smiles down at Princess Emmeline who's shyly grinning at Elsa and starting to let go of Jack's hand. "You must be the lovely Princess Emmeline."

The little princess curtsies and scoots closer to Jack, partially hiding behind Jack's leg. "You both are really beautiful, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna."

"_Aww!_" The two sisters step closer to the princess and crouch down to meet her level. "You are extremely beautiful as well!" The princess shies away as she grips her brother's pants. Princess Emmeline is not usually this bashful, but Jack has talked greatly of his fiancée and that's enough to make her see Queen Elsa as some sort of her role model.

"What do you think about Arendelle so far, Princess Emmeline?" Elsa asks and sees Jack kneeling beside the little princess to support her after he noticed his sister hadn't been acting like herself.

"Your kingdom is really lovely." Princess Emmeline whispers and glances at her brother as she keeps fiddling with her fingers. "But, I agree with what my brother said. It's still not quite as _lovely _as _you_, Queen Elsa."

Jack sinks through the floor, Elsa turns into a tomato, and Anna _completely loses it_.

"_Oh my._" Anna chortles. "My sister said that Prince Jack is _so_ _lovely,_ too! She also mentioned your brother has been very understanding towards her!"

"My brother also said Queen Elsa understands her people so much. She is a great queen and everyone looks up to her."

"Well, my sister also said that the people of Arendelle look up to Jack as well! He talks to all of them and they love him!"

"Yeah! My brother loves talking to the people in our kingdom, too, especially the children!"

"_Oooh!_ My sister told me she admired Jack's gregarious side so much!"

"My brother also admires Queen Elsa in so many ways, too!"

The Northern Isles' watch in amusement as Jack and Elsa try so hard not to castrate their little sisters. "I think they really lo—"

"_Okay!_ I think you've said enough, little rascal." Jack gawkily laughs as he clamps Princess Emmeline's mouth shut. The youngest princess only giggles and smiles at Anna who's winking at her.

"We'll continue this conversation later, okay?" The little princess excitedly nods at Princess Anna as she pries away from Jack's grip.

"_Prince Zanderson._" Elsa swiftly stands up—followed by Jack and Anna—as she addresses Jack's other brother to stir the conversation to another topic before Anna could corrupt the little princess and embarrass her even further. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Jack told me you had taught sign language to your people?" The prince kindly nods. "If it won't trouble you that much, I would love to have you as a teacher as well and learn the basics. It will be nice for all of us to understand each other as a family." Prince Zanderson's eyes brighten at the queen's request. He then starts moving his hands.

Jack smiles and speaks for his brother. "He says 'that's very kind of you.' " Elsa nods and smiles accordingly at the mute prince.

"Alright! Now that we all know about each other, I would like to introduce everyone to the rule Queen Elsa and I have had established here!" King Nicholas claps his hands as all eyes dart on his. "Since we are going to be a big family soon, we are going to skip _any_ _sort_ of _formality_ and call each other with our _nicknames!_" The old man announces joyfully. "Elsa and Anna already know this, but call me North."

"That is a lovely idea!" Princess Thiana responds happily. "You can call me with either Thiana or Tooth."

"_Tooth?_" Anna cannot help but blurt that out, earning a soft elbow from Elsa.

"I may have some rare obsession towards teeth," Thiana explains sheepishly while tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "So, Jack created the nickname and I grew accustomed to that."

Anna giggles and playfully glares at Jack. "I'm not surprised. That's something very much Jack would do."

"You bet I do." Jack proudly smirks. "I am also the founder of _Sandy _for Zander due to his sand like hair color and _Bunny _for Aster."

"Rack off, you _bloody show pony_." Aster grunts, earning soft giggles from his family. "You two don't need to hear about that. Aster will do."

"And you can call me Emma!" The youngest princess finishes the introduction, finally being her spirited self.

"Well, my sister and I don't really have someone like Jack creating nicknames for us, so feel free to call us Elsa and Anna."

"I'm pretty sure Jack can give you a _special nickname_, sis." Anna bats her eyelashes, sending the Northern Isles to a series of laughter and the soon-to-be-married couple the color red to their cheeks.

Elsa takes action and saves herself _and Jack_ from embarrassment once again. "I believe you are all starved after a long journey. We should have our first family dinner together."

"_Finally!_ I have been waiting for you to say that." The group laughs once again as North shakes that big belly of his.

Elsa leads her guests to the dining room which is located in the West Wing of the castle. Anna and Emma bond quickly—not that it's a surprise though. They surely like to tease their older siblings for their own entertainment. Because of that, Elsa refuses to meet Jack's eyes and engages herself in a lovely conversation with his siblings instead. Jack, too, tries to keep a good distance with Elsa and chats with his father whilst asking the king a very important favor. When North presses about the favor itself, Jack whispers that he'll tell him later once they are alone.

The group soon enters the dining room, welcomed by rows and rows of food dined above a large white tablecloth decorated in beautiful rosemaling. The cuisine consists of _rakfisk_, _pinnekjøtt_, whale steak, _lutefisk_—Elsa's personal favorite—, and many others as the desserts follow with twenty layers of _kransekake _with a tiny Arendelle flag on top, krumkaker—Anna's number one choice—, _skolebrød_, rosette cookie, and fruit cake. They waste no time and rush to enjoy the food, savoring the magic Egil had poured onto his cooking. The two little sisters—just like the prior—opens the conversation with the romance between Elsa and Jack, making the couple shrink deeper into their seats. Thiana, who can pretty much relate to their condition, when the Northern Isles teased her and Aster about their marriage, comes up with another subject matter and starts asking about tomorrow's joyful commemoration. The conversation sticks longer to the Harvest Festival topic as they all express their enthusiasm for the event. When the table is almost empty, North announces the occurrence of his reindeers. Elsa and Anna have to hold their appetite to recover from such surprising news. The queen then reassures him the six of reindeers can stay with Kristoff's reindeer at the stable and the sleigh will be put under her trusted stablemen's care. North truly appreciates the queen's offer for his pets' accommodation.

"Speaking of Kristoff, I have not seen him around," North asks as he glances at the empty seat.

"Who is this _Kristoff_ again?" Aster questions since the Arendelle sisters mentioned his name twice but hadn't properly introduced him.

"He's my boyfriend! Same as North, he also has a pet reindeer named Sven." Anna grins as soon as she swallows the last piece of krumkake. "I told him to check the kitchen earlier, but it wasn't supposed to be this _long_."

"Well, I needed to feed the other _six _hungry reindeers out there. Not to mention _extremely huge _reindeers_._" Kristoff suddenly emerges from the door and passes a smile to everyone. "Good evening. I'm sorry for being late."

"Oh, there is no reason to be sorry, Kristoff! In fact, I should thank you for feeding the Rudolphs!" North exclaims, earning giggles from the others.

"No problem. Sven is delighted to have new friends from the same species." Kristoff smiles at the king as he rushes to the empty seat beside Sandy. "I guess I'm late for the introduction part?"

"It's alright, man," Jack replies and gestures to his three siblings and one in-law. "Let me introduce you to my older brothers—Aster and Sandy, my little sister—Emma, and Aster's wife—Thiana."

"But, you can also call me Tooth!" Thiana toothily grins as Aster chuckles beside her.

"You can also call Aster with Bunny." Emma grins innocently at her brother. The poor prince can never be mad at the adorable little princess.

"I guess I'm also late for the explanation on that part?" The group laughs once again. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Kristoff, Anna's suitor."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Prince Kristoff." Emma, who's apparently sitting in front of Kristoff, smiles at him as she slides a plate of rosette cookies, politely offering him some.

"Thanks, kiddo." Kristoff smirks at the kind princess and takes a piece as a form of his gratitude.

"If I may ask, which kingdom are you from, mate?" Aster asks, taking another gulp of his drink.

"Oh, uh..." Kristoff glances at Anna and Elsa who give him an encouraging smile. This happens most of the time, Kristoff being interrogated for his background by several dignitaries from other kingdoms that paid Arendelle a visit. Even so, Elsa and Anna fully support him for who he is and that is enough for the source of his courage. "I'm just an ordinary ice harvester who gets lucky to win Anna's heart."

"Oh!" Aster whoops, mentally scolding himself for such a sensitive question. "My sincerest apologies. I didn't mean to offend you in any kind."

"None taken!" Kristoff smiles brightly and pours himself a drink. "It's sort of a _must_ _question_ for talks like these. I completely understand that."

"That's good to hear." Aster grins and glimpses at Sandy and Jack. "Just so you know, my brothers and I are fond of ice harvesting, too. The north mountain is only a ship away from the Northern Isles." Anna has to glance at her sister and Elsa is reminded by her planned visit to her ice castle _with Jack_.

"Gotta agree on that." Jack continues. "The mountain serves the prettiest sights for the northern lights as well." Sandy states his agreement with two thumbs up as he makes a sign. Kristoff perks up at Sandy's fluid movements in sign language.

"Woah! You _know _sign language?" Kristoff smiles in amazement as Sandy makes another sign, telling the iceman that he is mute since he was born. "Oh..." Kristoff slowly nods as he moves his arms, too, and replies. 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

Instead of focusing on Kristoff's pity, Sandy smiles happily, knowing that the iceman is fluent with the language. "Wait," Anna cuts the dialogue and glares at her boyfriend. "You _knew_ how to use sign language and you never _told_ me?" Elsa also shares Kristoff a cold stare.

"Oh, _haha_..." Kristoff nervously rubs the back of his neck. Angry Arendelle sisters are _not _to mess with. "Well, I had the most bizarre education growing up."

"We will continue this conversation _later_." Anna states firmly, making Kristoff quickly shut his mouth and knows better not to mess with Anna when she uses _the tone_.

"Actually, there is another person who belongs to the royal family that hasn't shown his presence yet." Elsa states, stealing everyone's attention and pinching their interest.

"Oh, will he be here soon?" Thiana asks kindly.

"He's on his way." Feeling a certain coldness coming closer to the door, Elsa smiles and stands up. "Come here, Olaf!"

"I'm coming, Elsa! _Ah_, I detect a _fruit cake!_ What a captivating smell which does wonder inside my carrot nose." A voice comes from the door as the owner of the voice finally makes it snowy appearance. Elsa fixes her gaze on Olaf, failing to catch the shock from the Northern Isles' faces. "Oh, all of Jack's family members are already here! Hi, everyone—I'm _Olaf_ and I like _warm hugs!_"

Aster lets his jaw falls to the floor, Thiana drops her eating utensils on her plate making a huge clacking sound, Sandy opens his eyes as if they would come out of their sockets any time soon, and Emma abruptly stands on her seat, all looking up and down at the _snowman_ right in front of their eyes.

The dining room remains in deafening silence for ten seconds.

"Well, I would love to get to know all of you, but I need to get to Elsa real quick. Please, wait for a moment." Olaf rushes to Elsa as he points at the snow flurry hanging above him. "Can you please add more volume into the cloud, Elsa? I suppose I spent too much time outside and the sun started to melt the snow. Nothing is permanent, right?"

"Sure thing, Olaf." Elsa takes a deep breath as she performs her magic for the first time in front of Jack's siblings.

"_That feels refreshing_." Olaf sighs in pleasure as he returns his attention to the Northern Isles'. "Alright. Now, where were we?"

That's when Elsa finally takes in the faces they all make.

Aster, Thiana, Sandy, and Emma stare deep into her soul without any word coming from their lips.

They are all _looking_ at _her_.

They aren't _saying_ _anything_.

They do that for the _longest_ _time_.

And, suddenly, _everything seems familiar._

_Sorcery..._

_I knew there was something dubious going on here..._

_Monster..._

That's when Elsa feels her chest tightening, herself feeling hard to breath, and she needs to get out, _now_.

"I believe we all have acknowledged each other's presence." She forces a smile as her eyes travel to her surroundings, intentionally avoiding everyone's existence. "Now, we all must retire because tomorrow will be a big day. Gerda, a trustworthy assistant of mine, will escort you all to your rooms. You will also find your belongings there."

Elsa takes a deep breath and puts up a smile. "Have a good night rest everyone." And with that, she leaves.

* * *

A few minutes ago, Jack, Anna, Kristoff, and North—who happened to sit near Elsa—faced their backs to the queen as they had a silent moment with the four dumbfounded royalties and also each other.

Anna and Kristoff looked back and forth between Jack and North but eventually ended up locking their gaze on North—since Jack was too busy signalling his siblings to calm down—as they simultaneously mouthed while gesturing to his children. 'You haven't told them?'

North seemed troubled for a moment as he mouthed back. 'No...?'

On the other hand, Jack was moving his lips to send a clear message to his siblings while feeling their stares burned on him.

'Don't. Tell. Her.'

The message shocked his siblings even more as they shifted their eyes to Elsa once again. As soon as Elsa bid their leave, they _leapt_ and cornered Jack to the wall as they screamed right in front of his face.

"Your _fiancée _has _bloody ice powers?!_"

"She's just _like _you, Jack!"

"Oh my God! You guys are _destined _to be!"

"Yeah. Like how on earth a person with ice powers meets another person with ice powers, mate?"

"It's fate. It's _definitely _fate."

"It's like you both are made for each other since you were born!"

"This is amazing. Holy shit."

"You guys are so cute! My heart cannot take this!"

"This is _way _cooler than any princess story I've ever read!"

"Your relationship is a world phenomenon."

"Yes! _The icy couple_. Who would've thought?"

Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf just stand there witnessing Jack's family's reaction over Elsa's winter ability. "This is normal." Olaf gives out his comment as Anna and Kristoff casually nod at his statement.

Aster, Thiana, and Emma were too busy bickering over the extremely shocking matter, ignoring Sandy's presence with the most important question.

North, who has been queerly watching his children lashing out at Jack in pure hilarity, luckily notices Sandy who keeps struggling to get everyone's attention. "_Children_, I think it is Sandy's turn to share a piece of his mind."

Sandy sends an appreciative nod to his father as he signs to Jack. 'You haven't told her about your powers?' Kristoff has to whisper to Anna and Olaf what Sandy was trying to imply, although he's secretly enjoying this far too much.

Then all eyes land on Jack.

"Well," The young prince coughs and pushes himself from the wall to stand up properly. "You guys deserve an explanation, I guess."

"I think _we_ _all_ deserve that." Anna steps forward and crosses her arms.

Aster arches his brow in puzzlement. "Wait, you three already _know_ about his powers?"

"By _accident_," Anna responds. "I don't think Jack is planning to ever spill the beans to any of us."

"Actually, I would tell you three and Sven about this." Jack clicks his fingers and creates tiny snowflakes dancing around his fingertips before disintegrating into thin air seconds after. "Elsa, on the other hand—" He pauses and peers at Kristoff. "I have other _plans_."

All eyes land on Kristoff now.

Kristoff shrugs and gestures to the impatient audience. "I think you should tell them."

"Wait, what?" Anna spits in so much venom and sends daggers at her boyfriend, again. "You _know_ why?" How many things Kristoff's hiding from her?

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not the one running things here."

All eyes return to Jack, again.

Olaf inches closer to Anna and whispers. "This is getting intense."

The young prince sighs and claps his hands, drawing a conclusion for himself. "Okay..._explanation time_." Jack takes a sharp breath and forges his remark.

* * *

The young queen twists the door open and enters her chamber after taking a short turn to the attic. Elsa bites her lip and stares down at the thing she condemns with all her life.

_Her cyan satin gloves._

And it gets heavier the longer she holds it.

Shaking her head, she walks to the balcony and places herself on the bench as her left arm rests on the parapet. She looks down at Arendelle, admiring the bright lights all around the kingdom and smiling at her ice sculptures which are reflecting the sheen. She stirs her gaze up to the sky, faint illuminations of the northern lights are making their entrance soon, and the moon, gorgeously hiding behind the fading clouds. She then closes her eyes feeling herself relaxing at the aura of the open air.

Then, in the darkness, she sees _images_. _Horrified _faces from _everyone _who attended her coronation and followed by the looks Jack's family gave her a moment ago.

She abruptly opens her eyes. Her chest tightens and her body trembles when fear nestles on her soul, again. Elsa gasps as she accidentally unleashes her powers and creates a thin layer of ice on her gloves. She takes a deep breath and swings her hand, dissolving any amount of ice she established out of control.

_Not again. _She whispers to herself.

_No_. She won't let her emotions take over her.

Right before she chimes the _mantra_ she had cursed three years ago, the door clicks open.

"Hey," Jack smiles at her and closes the door behind him. Elsa quickly recovers and replies to his smile. "My folks thanked you for the rooms. Emma really likes the pretty rosemaling design and Sandy falls in love with the puffy mattress."

"I'm glad they like it." She manages to giggle while watching Jack slowly placing himself beside her.

"And, _uh_...sorry for _earlier_." Jack scratches the back of his neck. "My sister can be a bit _crazy _and says crazy stuff."

"It's fine." Elsa smiles. "I should apologize for Anna too. She _is _crazy and says the craziest stuff." Jack chuckles along with her until his eyes flicker to the gloves in her hold.

"Since when you're wearing gloves?" He casually asks and hurriedly regrets his question as soon as he catches how the smile drops from her face. "Are you okay?" He pinches himself for a stupid question and throws another. "No, you're _not_ _okay_. What's in your mind?"

Elsa gives him a faint chuckle and plays with her gloves. "I can never hide from you, can't I?"

"You know that." Jack smiles and slowly takes her free hand in his. "Tell me what's in your mind, Elsa." He softly says and caresses the back of her hand in comfort.

"I just think I should wear gloves tomorrow."

Jack crunches his nose. "For what?"

"I don't want to cause your family any discomfort." She painfully looks down at the gloves. "I saw how shocked they were."

Jack blinks his eyes.

Elsa surely receives the wrong message.

"They are scared of me, Jack." Her voice slowly breaks.

Jack feels a hammer smashing his chest in full power.

_Of course, they are flabbergasted due to the fact that my soon-to-be wife happens to possess the same power as mine._

_But, of course, you don't know that._

_Because I haven't told you about my secret._

_And, now, here you are, thinking that they are scared of you because of your powers._

Jack scolds himself for being responsible for Elsa's horrible state.

She even thought of wearing _gloves_, for fuck's sake!

"That's not true at all," Jack lowers his head to stare right into her sad eyes. "My family _loves_ your powers."

Elsa looks up to Jack, still unsure whether he's saying the truth or only trying to cheer her up. "Really?"

"Yeah! They were just in shock because—_you know_," Jack then remembers what Anna had told him that day after the engagement ball. "It's not every day we see a person with superpowers. After you left the dining room, they were pretty excited to see other things you can do with that gift of yours."

"So, they aren't scared at all?"

"Not the tiniest bit." Elsa slowly creates a smile as Jack finds himself slowly recalling the conversation he had with Elsa's family after she revealed her powers to him for the first time.

_We all know that because Elsa was once very much like you._

"What makes you think about that anyway?" Letting his curiosity takes over, his mouth forms its own words as his eyes eventually stay locked on the pair of gloves on Elsa's hand. "Did something happen before?"

Elsa remains in silence for some time before answering with the smallest smile. "I was born with ice powers. I never knew why, but my parents would always tell me it's because I'm special. Growing up, I figured out they only said that because they were as clueless as I was. I, myself, believed that I was given this power for a reason—a _good_ reason..." Her smile fades. "That was until I _struck_ Anna's head when we were playing at night. My parents brought us to the trolls. The oldest troll there—who I believe possesses the strongest magic and holds the most knowledge—healed Anna and warned me about my powers. He said not only _beauty _lies with it_, _but also _great danger_ and I had to _learn_ to _control_ it. Then my parents made the decision to keep my powers _hidden_ from _everyone_."

"With this pair of gloves." Jack states his assumption, earning a nod from Elsa. He has to hold himself from blurting out what a horrible decision Elsa's parents had made. The troll told her to control it, _not _conceal it. If she shut her powers down then how on earth could she ever be able to _learn _how to use it?

"_These_ pairs of gloves, actually." Elsa tries to make a light out of it. "I have rows and rows of satin gloves in the attic. I needed them for thirteen years after all."

"_What?_" Jack startles. "_Thirteen years?_ You wore _gloves_ for _thirteen years?!_" Elsa flinches when Jack raises his voice. "I—I'm sorry. It's just—how old were you back then?"

"I was nine years old when the incident happened." Jack is unable to say anything. "It's alright...I had _no_ choice, Jack. I couldn't control my powers and risk hurting anyone again."

"How did Anna react to all of this?" Jack murmurs out of logical reasoning. He has a feeling Anna wouldn't _ever_ agree to that verdict. Elsa mentioned she hurt Anna when they were playing, which means Elsa once had control of her powers and Anna cherished her sister for who she is.

"In order for Anna to heal, the troll had to remove any trace of my powers from her body, _including_ her _memory_. She forgot everything about my powers."

"And Anna never came up with the question of why you were wearing gloves?" His next question escalates Elsa's nervousness. Feeling how Elsa lightly trembles, Jack takes Elsa's other hand. The gloves feel cold under his palm. "Did I say something wrong? You don't have to answer that—"

"No." Elsa sighs and squeezes Jack's hand back. "You deserve to know the whole story." Smiling, she breathlessly continues her story.

"Anna and I never had a conversation ever because...I never had a conversation with anyone aside from my parents." She tears her gaze away from Jack and looks down at the serenity of the sea. "I shut everyone out and locked myself inside my room."

Jack chokes in absolute horror.

_She spent thirteen years isolating herself inside her room?_

"It's _okay_." Elsa weakly giggles and plainly shrugs in hopes she could drop all the burdens she has on her shoulders while recalling her agonizing past. "I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for those thirteen years."

"You were _alone_ for _thirteen years?_" Jack's voice cracks as his grip on both Elsa's hands stiffen.

"I had _my parents_, Jack, and _Anna_ constantly knocked on my door. I wasn't _completely_ alone. I still felt their love." She abruptly shakes her head and smiles reassuringly at him. Elsa learns that Jack possesses the softest heart. He will easily grow his empathy towards people. That's one of the reasons why Elsa had many times decided not to tell him about her horrible past whenever she got the chance.

Because she knows it _will _hurt him, too.

Jack's eyes darken as his gaze pierces through Elsa's soul. "You _feared _your _own powers _for _thirteen years_, Elsa?"

The air inside Elsa's lungs disappears for a moment. Elsa struggles to breathe when the memories of her nightmares become vivid in her eyes. The emotions she buried into the abyss suddenly comes crashing back to her like a tidal wave, sinking her deep into the darkness.

_Until a delicate kiss casts upon her hand._

Elsa returns to reality and watches Jack planting a kiss on the back of her hand while looking straight into her eyes. "_Don't._" Jack lifts his head, his lips leaving a thrilling sensation she had never experienced before.

"Don't ever be afraid of your own powers because there's no _reason_ to be. Your powers are _good_, Elsa. You have to believe that." He smiles. "You once lost control because you were _afraid_ of them. Fear can _never_ be _trusted_."

"Love your powers, Elsa. Embrace them." Jack inches closer and gently moves the strands of hair that were covering her face. "Even when things go wrong and some will think differently of you, don't _ever _let fear take control of you."

"And think about _love_." Elsa breathes out a giggle, making Jack subtly laugh as well.

"You got this." Jack nods, so does she. "And _others' love_ for _you_. You have so many people by your side."

Elsa tries to contain her smile and determinedly nods, letting Jack's words be with her forever. "Thank you, Jack, for...everything."

"No problem. I know I'm a professional, motivational speaker."

Elsa bursts out laughing and playfully pouts at him. "You just _had_ to ruin the mood."

"Oh, don't worry, Your Majesty. I can provide you with another inspiring show later." Jack raises from the bench and pulls Elsa to stand up as well. Truthfully, Jack is _dying _to know more about Elsa's past but decides not to press her even further. It has already taken everything from her to be strong enough to tell him this. "As for now, you need your beauty sleep. You have a glorious day tomorrow!"

"Alright." Elsa cannot stop laughing. "Let me put this back in the attic." She says while looking down at the pair of gloves.

"Let this dashing Northern man do the honors," Jack volunteers and takes the gloves from Elsa. "I'm not letting you touch these again. Also, I really wanna check out that place. Gerda didn't give me a tour to the attic."

"You do realize you have to get up early in the morning, too, right?" Elsa smirks and sassily crosses her arms. Jack will finalize his lessons with Erlingur tomorrow before the festival starts.

"A _super_ _quick_ _tour_, then." Jack grins, showing his perfect set of teeth, and bows at the young queen. "Good night and sweet dreams, Your Majesty. Please, don't wait for me. I'll be back as soon as I finish with my _super quick tour_ around the attic." He gives her one last grin before disappearing from the door.

Elsa shakes her head in amusement as she slowly walks to the bathroom to clean herself and change to her sleepwear. "Good night, Jack."

The smile never leaves her face.

* * *

Jack slams the chest shut, breathing heavily at the sight of _that_ many gloves inside. He quickly exits the attic, not wanting to stay there any longer with all of those dusty boxes which may contain other rows and rows _and rows_ of satin gloves.

_I won't look at gloves the same anymore._

Thinking about it again, he now understands another side of Elsa. He remembers her horrified face as if she was nine years old all over again, curled up inside the cold sheets of her room, surrounded by layers of fear and darkness.

He wasn't there then, but _he's here now._

He vows to never let _fear_ make its way near Elsa again.

He vows to always remind her that there will always be _love_.

That's why he is now passing the silent hallways of the castle and goes to his father's guest room. He's going to make the best ring in this world and show _how much_ _he loves her_.

He's going to marry her the right way and protects her with all his might.

Jack arrives in front of the room as he pushes the door open, welcomed by the sight he didn't expect to see.

"What the _hell_ are you guys _doing in here!?_" Jack shrieks with a really high-pitched voice. Kristoff, Sven, and Sandy are standing beside the bookshelf while listening to Olaf who's reading them a book about turtles. Thiana, Aster, and Marius are chatting by the window with cups of coffee. North is casually eating the snacks which Elsa ordered the servants to deliver to every guest room while watching Emma and Anna who are telling stories to each other on the billowy carpet.

"Oh, Jack's here!" Emma squeals as everyone starts to gather around the carpet. North starts to offer them the many snacks placed on the tray.

"Wha—_why are you all here?!_" Jack still can hardly believe what lies upon him. "And since when you two are even here?" He points his finger to Sven and Marius.

"Kristoff was fetching Sven from the stable. I, who happened to pass by, decided to come with them." Marius plainly answers and Sven creates a noise in compliance. "_And_ if properly introducing myself to your family is your concern, I already know all of them. North, Sandy, Aster, Thiana, and Emma."

"We know him, too!" Grinning, Thiana supports Marius' report. "He is the Lord Commander of the Queensguard. Elsa's official guard and he has _really_ nice teeth."

"We also get to know Sven! He is a great storyteller." Emma adds and Sandy lifts two thumbs up. Turns out a conversation with a reindeer is similar to sign language.

"_What?_" Jack is speechless. "_Okay_, that—that's not the point. _Why are you all here?_"

"Oh, I wouldn't miss a proclamation of love for my sister for the world," Anna answers with her eyes possibly forming the shapes of a heart.

"And to watch my baby brother finally becoming a real man." Aster smugly smirks and takes a sip of his coffee.

"Well," Kristoff coughs. "Marius, Sven, and I are already involved in this plan. Might as well be acquainted with the details." Marius lifts his cup, stating his agreement.

"And I would love to learn more about proposing technique that is based on true love because I am positive it will be beneficial for my maturity." Olaf finishes the explanation.

Jack, who is completely staggered, gives his father a look. "You _told_ them?"

North, looking like a 5-years-old who just gets busted for stealing all the pastries from the kitchen, lifts the tray he has been holding and offers Jack the snacks. "Cookies? Eggnog?"

Jack buries his face inside his hands.

_This is going to be a long night._

* * *

_**Author's Note**_

**Hello, my faithful comrades! ****I hope this 7.2k words long chapter and the bittersweet Jelsa moment make you, at least, smile today!**

_**AHTOHALLAN  
**_**\- In '_Olaf's Frozen Adventure_', Elsa's gloves are kept inside the attic  
****\- According to '_Unlocking Arendelle_', Lutefisk is Elsa's favorite food, while Krumkaker is Anna's**

**Okay, final words...Thank you so much for the many reviews, favs, and follows! I don't deserve y'all adorable beans, thank you so much for being patient with me! Until the next chapter, WHICH IS NEXT WEEK~ **

_**Warm Hugs,  
**__**Reynia**_


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